


Grim tales of Amity Park

by Shotahunter1851



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Blood and Gore, Camping, Character Death, Gen, Monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 10:43:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20469722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shotahunter1851/pseuds/Shotahunter1851
Summary: Three horror-filled stories where nothing seems to be real, A dream job turn sour, a drink to never forget and camping trip went horribly wrong. read if you dare.





	1. Mayor Vlad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After months of political campaign, Vlad Masters becomes Amity Parks new Mayor though little did he knew what truely awaited for him in the Mayor's office.

Grim Tales of Amity Park

One-shot horror stories base on Danny Phantom

All characters belong to Butch Hartman

Mayor Vlad

The people roar and chant Vlad Master’s name as the man rose his arms up into the sky as blue, white and red balloons were unleashing around him to celebrate his grand victory, after long and tiresome months of political campaigning he was finally elected Mayor of Amity Park. 

Vlad had grand dreams and becoming the Mayor of his hometown was the first step in a long road that laid before him, the white hair man waves his hands to the cheering crowds even now it surprises him how quick he earns a place in people’s heart.

Under cheering and chanting Vlad walk over to the podium to give out the speech he had to rehearse for a day on end, he had given hundreds of speeches so far but as he stood in front of what he could assume was the whole population of Amity Park he felt butterflies in his stomach.

Before walking to the stage, he briefly turns back to his personal assistant Desiree, her caramel skin covered by a simple yet very formal office suit though she still let her cleavage open exposing her slightly large breast.

Both had worked throughout the night making the perfect speech for this very moment alongside his campaign manager Penelope Spectra, not only did the women help him with his speeches and political campaigning many of his most trusted employees aided.

Despite the long hours of hard work making the best acceptance speech, it only lasted for a little less than ten minutes. Though Vlad felt it was the longest ten minutes of his entire life but made through it with flying colors. 

The white hair man handshakes with former Mayor Timothy, Vlad smiles as he perhaps overly happy takes office. The man didn’t have any prior history in politics or had any charge similar though he is president of Vladco.

Vlad was well known for his charity events long before he even thought of running for Amity Park’s Mayor, but behind every kind smile is a devil. He didn’t doubt a single second to run down any small business that got in his way.

The lucky ones were bought off while the unlucky ones suffer complete and utter bankruptcy, Vlad hid his questionable business methods under layers of charity work and support for the people, often building housing for the needed.

“Mayor Vlad. Should I get the car ready”- said a tan woman with long ebony hair.

“Yes, Desiree”- replied the man. Vlad simply loves the newly earn title and savor each syllable of it. 

Desiree had served Vlad as a personal assistant for almost half a decade, she handles his schedule and arranges all his appointments even now that he became Mayor, she still works for him. Next to the tan woman was a red hair woman dress in a bright red office suit.

“Come on Vlad, we still got to go to the celebration party”- said the red hair woman.

“I can hardly wait for it Spectra”- replied the new Mayor of Amity Park. 

(XXXX)

“Congratulations Amity Park’s Mayor of 1967 Vladimir Master” read the banner above his house's main door. 

Vlad drank his expensive wine in the company of all his political party members, though everyone tried to keep as formal and elegant as possible most end up passing out drunk. The celebration ended after midnight, Desiree personally escorted the guest to their taxies or chauffeurs.

The new Mayor was far from being drunk in fact he hardly drank more than a couple of glasses. In a couple of days, he would take office and surely many in his inner circles thought he was downgrading himself from the CEO of a multinational company to the Mayor of a small city.

Nevertheless, this is what he wanted. Once all the guests had left his “humble” mansion, Spectra also called it a night as she steps out while reminding Vlad to behave himself as he was now Amity’s new Mayor had to be an example for the people.

“Desiree, need a ride?”- asked Spectra. 

The tan woman turns over to her boss and asks if he needs anything else from her, Vlad told to go home and have a proper night’s rest as they had a couple of long days before he formally took office, therefore Desiree left with Spectra.

Vlad was a man of habits and routines never straying from his comfort zone, and though he started a political venture it was all well planned out from the very beginning, each step was carefully thought out and prepare.

He had much to thank Penelope for as she masterfully manages his campaign all the way to City hall, Vlad didn’t have any prior in politics or had the silver tongue politicians are known for, but even so the red hair woman made him Mayor of Amity Park.

He made the necessary arrangements to make Penelope his chief of public affairs the following days, Vlad didn’t want to lose such an invaluable worker to any competitor or have her waste her talents in some shady publicity company. 

Despite having the wealth to hire maids and other help, the man insisted on cooking for himself more out of habit than general concerns. Vlad was very careful and serious about his breakfast, he had to make sure to get all the nutrition he needed for work.

One thing Vlad praise his assistant Desiree for was her punctuality, at exactly 8:45 am she was crossing the main door. It took them only ten minutes to reach city hall, he’s first day of work had finally come upon him. 

Vlad felt butterflies in his stomach as he enters city hall, it felt just as he did on his first day of school so many years ago. The Mayor’s office was much simpler than his own office at Vlaco, though it had a wonderful view of the city.

As the man inspected his new office, he noticed a couple of bookshelves place against the wall though all the books were gone, a water cooler on the right corner next to the door, the only decent object according to Vlad was a vintage desk standing in front of both the national and state flags.

Nevertheless, he had some necessary commodities taken to his new office such as his expensive leather chair and most important of all, his favorite football team’s flag which stood in the left corner beside the door.

“I really don’t approve of the Packer’s team flag being in the Mayor’s office”- proclaim Spectra with a stern voice.

“Relax, don’t sweat the details.”- replied Mayor Vlad.

Spectra sigh in disapproval as she exits the office ready to get acquainted with her new duties leaving Vlad and Desiree in the office. Vlad wasn’t married and didn’t have any children, therefore, the only personal picture that adore his desk was of him standing in the middle of the Packer’s football team. 

His tan assistant began handing him his daily duties, it was monotonous and somewhat boring but it always is during the first day, Vlad needed to get acquainted with his subordinates, learns his daily responsibilities and such.

Vlad’s runtime would officially begin on Monday but he was a perfectionist and wanted to have everything ready, to know where everything was located at and to at least know those who work under him by name.

“Mayor Vlad, will you be requiring anything else from me?”- suddenly said Desiree.

The man was too engrossed in his activities to have noticed it was already five o’clock, his assistant reminded him about having a personal matter to attend to, it took Vlad several seconds to recall it was Desiree’s wedding anniversary.

She had asked for a few vacation days to attend her anniversary at an out of state resort, Vlad instantly apologizes for having forgotten about it but still told her she could go without worries, the woman was by far the best assistant he could ever ask for.

Naturally, he had to comply with whatever needs she had, otherwise she could seek employment elsewhere and to find someone as productive as she was would take months. Vlad could live without her for one weekend, he wasn’t a child who needed mommy to take care of him.

(XXXX)

Vlad saw Desiree leave the office with a happy smile he seldom has seen on her stoic face, he did wonder when she had the time to date and even get married but she did five years ago, once the woman was out of sight Vlad noticed almost everyone had left.

“Good evening new Mayor Vlad”- suddenly said former Mayor Timothy Turner.

The small bolding man looks straight at Vlad as he congratulates him for his victory, Timothy lost the election to Vlad despite his extensive campaign yet the man couldn’t outdo Vlad Masters in charisma and public seduction. 

“Thank you for visiting though I’ll take office on Monday, I just came to make sure everything was how I wanted it”- said Vlad as he leans over his chair giving Turner a scary glare.

The moving company had arrived with most of his office belongings while both men were trying to stare each other down, the new Mayor broke the stare down as he instructed the movers where to put his furniture. His attention was drawn back to the former competitor.

“Is there something I can do for you mister Montez?”- asked Vlad as he sees the movers bring in some new file cabinets.

“I just came here to have some tea with you, in sign of good faith”- answered the man.

Vlad was many things in his life but rude wasn’t among them, he did in all fairness enjoy a good cup of hot tea every now and again. Though he didn’t actually want to drink anything with his former rival who at some point took things to a personal level. 

Timothy shows his sincere resentment for casually saying Vlad and his married personal assistant were having an affair, it was a move that causes him the elections as his voters didn’t like this cheap baseless move.

“I know it was a low move but I was desperate but I came to smoke the peace pipe with you and to give this gift to your lovely assistant as an apology.” – said Montez.

Vlad didn’t believe a single word he spoke, he was now starting to understand the inner works of this backstabbing cutthroat profession, to lie through their teeth without blinking and holding down a sincere smile.

Turner had broken the unspoken gentleman’s rule of never speaking ill of a lady or her companionship, which was sinking far too low.

Even he was disgusted by how easy his political peers could lie to the public and make empty promises none had the intention of making good of. Vlad did his share of lying throughout the years but in his own defense tried to make good on promises. 

The new Mayor of Amity Park didn’t feel like drinking anything with Timothy as he hadn’t exactly forgiven him spreading lies about him and Desiree, it was the most uncomfortable conversation he ever had with the woman and her husband.

“You should check out the little museum here, it’ real treat”- said Timothy as he handed Vlad a bag.

The white hair man looks at the handmade bag, it was filled with dry leaves and flowers which Timothy said made excellent tea. Vlad didn’t actually take his former competitor for a tea drinker he gave out the demeanor of a heavy beer drinker.

“They’re called Blood Blossoms; Indians use to make tea out of it”- said Timothy .

“Thank you, I’ll have some later on.”- replied Vlad.

Vlad dismissed Timothy as he didn’t want to chat with the smaller man, Vlad didn’t outright hate him but didn’t like his company after all the garbage he spoke of him and Desiree, though he had to admit his assistant is a beautiful woman. 

There are lines he couldn’t cross just yet but if in the near future Desiree were to divorce her husband there was the possibility of him trying to take his place. Nevertheless, that was something he wasn’t willing to try.  
(XXXX)

The moon was already out and with it, everyone in city hall already left with the exception of just a few security guards. Vlad left his office while he picks up his briefcase and walks out the door there was so much he didn’t know about the building.

City hall was almost two hundred years old, it started off as house for some rich guy and eventually, it became what is it now, city hall. Vlad enjoys the old-time architecture, though much had been added throughout the years.

Vlad heads down the stairs reaching the main lobby, his attention is drawn to a sign read “lounge,” following the sign into the hallway he eventually found the lounge area and within a couple of vending machines, mostly meant for the visitors and some employee that forgot their lunch at home. 

After taking a sandwich from the vending machines, Vlad takes out a few leaves and put them inside the kettle, the man wasn’t use to eating premade meals but on the other hand wasn’t picky on his food, his sandwich was bland and tasteless as expected but the tea made from the Blood Blossoms were unexpectedly good.

“At least you got a good taste”- whispered the man.

Vlad’s mother was unbelievable strict with him during his youth so much he didn’t’ realize he was already washing the kettle; the man laughs out loud as he realizes he was cleaning up after himself. After leaving things clean the new Mayor leaves the lounge.

As Vlad walks around the ground floor hallways he spots some offices and the public restrooms, it was when he turns around the corner that he spots an old man mopping the floor, upon coming closer Vlad notices the staff worker wore a blue overall. 

The man was in his late sixties, fair wrinkled skin and black eyes, the one thing that caught Vlad’s eyes the most was his long greyish hair so uncommon in men though he sported something quite similar, preferring to avoid a conversation Vlad continues with his tour. 

“Good evening”- said Vlad as he passes next to the man.

Taking yet another turns around the corner he spots a double door at the end of the hallway, with an almost childish curiosity he ventures inside. All around were Indian tapestries though he wasn’t an expert on the subject he was sure none were from the same tribe or culture. 

It was then Vlad recalls what Timothy told him earlier about a museum for the public’s enjoyment, all over the walls were tapestries, hatchets and some pipes, pictures of Indians and Amity’s first settlers, two large wooden statues of tribal warriors. 

“Your office is down that hallway and up the stairs”- suddenly said the staff member.

“Fudge bucket! You scare me”- said the man in a hasty voice as he literally jumps from his spot.

The fair skin janitor looks at him with a cold unflinching gaze, it was as if he didn’t care in the least that the stood in front of the new Mayor, it was now that Vlad noticed the man was slightly hunchback though he didn’t pick up on earlier as the janitor was curl up while mopping the floor. 

“Yeah I’m well aware of that”- replied Vlad trying not to sound rude.

Behind the man was an old portrait which called out to his attention, it was of a white man which didn’t seem to fit in with all the tribal theme antiquities, perhaps it was to not offend the visitors who didn’t appreciate native history.

Ignoring the janitor, Vlad walks closer to the painting as it stood out like a sore thumb, long silver-like hair well comb and tied in a ponytail, fair skin as one would expect, Vlad was sure there was a historical reason for his presence in the museum. 

“Mayor Victor Wulf, 1798.”- read the tag under the portrait.

The white hair man looks at the oil painting, it was undeniably ancient. The man in the portrait dress just like in the era the tag said, his silver hair slightly long with a thick mustache and a hard glare, perhaps even the painter must have felt intimidated.

Vlad stare at the cold lifeless gaze of Victor, and he could even dare to swear the man in the portrait was staring back; the new Mayor could count with one hand the number of men that could intimidate him or make him avert his eyes away but Victor did just that.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable in the room and especially under the harsh glare of Victor, Vlad decides to leave but as he walks away, his heart almost stops as he was absolutely sure the painting’s eyes move in his direction. 

Vlad glued his eyes on the portrait trying to figure out if there’s some sort of trickery for it to have briefly moved its eyes or perhaps an artist’s technique to make it seem like it moves but such an ability was unknown at the time it was painted. 

“It’s a crying shame”- suddenly said the janitor as he walks closer to the portrait.

Vlad looks at his predecessor as he felt obligated to asked what he meant by that, the old janitor passes his hand over the painting as he explains how the man in the portrait never did conclude his runtime as Mayor and did the worse crime a man could do.

“What did he do?”- asked Vlad wanting to leave the room.

“He couldn’t handle the pressure and murder his family”- casually answered the janitor.

Vlad hadn’t heard anything like what the old spoke about, though he was sure it was a dirty secret a handful of people in city hall knew and were actively trying to hide but before he could ask for more details the janitor excuse himself saying it was getting late and needed to finished cleaning.

The new Mayor saw the city worker leave while dragging his mop.   
(XXXX)

The white hair man laid down on his large and soft bed unable to close his eyes as he couldn’t shake off the words of the old man, he wonders what could drive a man to murder his own family, surely people were savage in those days but still.

Feeling an impatient and anxiety rare in his person, Vlad stood up and headed over to his personal library, he was sure to find some sort of document explaining what exactly happened but after hours of searching all he came across was an old history book of Amity Park, one that wasn’t issue at the local school since the 1940s.

“Mayor Thomas shot his wife and two daughters in a fit of rage”- read the text.

But not much else was said, the article only explains how in a fit of rage Victor shot his wife Jazmine and his daughters Danielle and Madeleine in cold blood. Vlad didn’t like the odd coincidence the women’s names were that of his best friends’ children. 

“Maddie how could you married that oaf”- whispered Vlad. 

The reasons for the crime were still to this day a mystery, though words of a marital affair were spoken among the common folk, apparently, Victor was well known for his sudden and often very violent outburst, most directed to his wife. 

The following morning Vlad stood once again in front of Victor’s portrait, despite the horrible crimes he committed his portrait was still hanging on the wall in the city museum, yet his face wasn’t anywhere else, city hall had an entire hallway dedicated to the former Mayors of Amity.

Perhaps Victor too somehow deserves to have his picture hang somewhere in city hall but Vlad was the new Mayor and oppose greatly to this idea, hence he pulled down the portrait and literally dragged it to the fireplace in the meeting room.

City hall was one of the oldest buildings in Amity Park which were originally constructed as a manor for the first settlers of Amity though eventually, it became the home of the town’s Mayor, at the start of the new century no Mayor live inside anymore. 

Vlad stare at the fire as it slowly grew, the fireplace was hardly ever used and mostly kept as decoration but now it was about to be used to burn away an antique picture, under more normal circumstances the new Mayor would have never even thought about doing something so savage.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you”- said a voice coming from one of the couches behind.

“Mother fudging son of a butter biscuit!!!”- screamed Vlad as he turns around letting the portrait slip from his hands. 

The old man stared at the antique painting as it laid over the floor, Vlad was more than sure only a handful of security guards should be present on a Sunday morning but before him, was the old man from the previous night sipping down on some coffee.

“It’s a valuable piece”- added the man. 

“Yeah… did some research about this sick guy. Someone like him doesn’t have the right to be here”- said Vlad as he picks up the portrait. 

Under an anger glare of the old man Vlad threw the portrait unto the fires and watch it burn away into cinders, it was then that the Mayor realized he hadn’t asked for the old man’s name, therefore, he kindly asks.

“Name’s Smith and a few spirits are not going to be happy about what you just did”- concluded Smith before leaving.

“You can keep your fudging superstitions to yourself old man”- replied Vlad.

Soon Smith was long gone and the painting was ash, Vlad didn’t look back as he headed over to his office and verified the movers had done their job correctly but as he made his way down the hallway, he could swear the portraits of the former Mayors were staring at him.  
(XXX)

As per their instructions, he saw how the moving company had set everything exactly the way he wanted, the heavy antique desk place in front of the window and the two flags on the corners, new and needlessly expensive bookstands place against the wall.

Despite the complaints of his former campaign manager now chief of public affairs Penelope Spectra, he changed the colors of the Mayoralty’s office to those of the Packers football team colors, there were surely a couple of rules he was breaking by doing this. 

Next to the window to the right of his desk was a counter with a brand-new coffee machine though taking advantage of his personal assistant’s absences he set a hidden mini bar under the counter for whenever the workload was too much.

“Nice to know this thing makes good tea as well”- said Vlad as he sips down on some of the Blood Blossoms Timothy gave him.

The man sat down on his desk as he looks around his new office, his Packers flag neatly place in the corner and the water cooler on the opposite corner, he noticed an old tapestry over the door as he came closer, the textile is of native American origin.

Vlad didn’t hold anything against the natives though he found it very strange to the see tapestry hanging over the door, it was multi-color striped with several tassels all around and what seems to be a wolf’s head in the center.

The man was sure he hadn’t seen it before but there was the possibility he simply didn’t notice it been hanged there in the first place; he did find a secret just early last night thanks to Timothy. Vlad did see a lot of charm in the textile.

Unlike Victor’s portrait Vlad felt this textile deserved a place in city hall though not in his office, he wondered if it would be alright for him to put it in the Indian gallery in the room below, perhaps only Spectra be the only one to complain about moving the tapestry from its original place.

Having done his heinous deed of the day by burning the antiquity and making sure his office was exactly as he wanted it, Vlad decided to go home through the moment he passes next to his Packers flag he sees it fall to the ground. 

It made no sense whatsoever, the flag pole was well placed on the floor.

There weren’t any strong wind drafts to make the flag fall down, the windows were closed therefore he rule it out as a mere coincidence, Vlad kneels down to pick up his teams’ flag but a shadow casting over him forces Vlad to leap out and spin on the floor.

Nothing at all stood behind him, though he could have sworn to see the silhouette of a man. Breathing heavily and with his heart bounding hard he proceeds to take his flag and put it back where it belongs, even so, he could shake off the eerie sensation of being watched. 

“Come on Vlad, you’re jumping at shadows”- said the man to remind himself there was nothing to fear.

As he locks the door to his office, he turns to the hall of honor where all of Amity’s Mayors had a portrait in full display with the reasonable exception of Mayor Victor Wulf, thanks to Vlad no one was to know about the wicked man.

Soon his name would be lost forever to time, as Vlad walked down the hall, he could swear all the eyes on the portraits were following him making him have goosebumps crawl all over his back, the old man’s superstitions were starting to rub onto him.

Already feeling extremely uncomfortable by the stares of his painted peers, Vlad heads down to the main lobby and exits through the wooden door still feeling the eerie sensation of being watched by ominous eyes.

(XXXX)

Even in his own house, in the sanctity of his office, Vlad couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched from every dark corner. Having done with all his paperwork the man headed over to the kitchen to fix his dinner.

It was one of his most precious hobbies he picks up during the time he dated Maddie, though he lost her to Jack during their college years he never resented either of his friends, but he didn’t visit as often as he should.

“It’s been a while since I last had Italian”- thought out loud the new Mayor of Amity as he enters the kitchen.

Already savoring his meal to come, Vlad gently opens the fridge ready to take from within all the ingredients to make dinner, his eyes glued to the inside unable to believe what he was seeing. Maggot lace meat, vegetables, and fruits all rotting away accompanied by the foulest smell his nose had ever endure.

Unable to believe what his eyes were showing him, Vlad slowly takes hold of one of the fat and slimy maggots in between in fingers making him nearly puke on the spot upon realizing he wasn’t hallucinating, the worm slipped off leaving a trail gooey trail behind. 

“Son of a butter biscuit!!”- exclaimed the man loudly as he slams the door.

Vlad was more than sure his maid had done all the shopping and would never let things simply rot within the refrigerator, he was a stern and hard boss with them but never rude or unrespectful with any of his staff.

But seeing such a disgusting blunder made that change, the white hair was forced him to call for his head maid with an unusually angry voice. After been called several times an old wrinkly woman came rushing into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong mister Vlad?”- questioned the head maid with a scared voice.

“What the fudge is that!?”- replied the man pointing towards the fridge.

The old woman was surprised by what her boss told her, in his words the whole refrigerator was filled with rotten vegetables and fruits, decomposing meat along with its fault putrid stench which permeated within.

Under the scornful eyes of Vlad, the old maid opens the fridge ready to take the stench of what her boss told was inside, but as she opens up all she found was fresh fruit and vegetables, all the meat was nice juicy and red.

Vlad dashed over to the fridge and started to toss out the food on the floor saying it was all rotten and maggot-infested, but as he squashes the apples and peaches under his foot nothing aside it delicious contents came out. 

He was absolutely sure all the food was rotten, the smell and worms crawling around were real as they lay before his very, within his very fingers and yet no worm or rotten food was there to be seen, his maid in a shaken voice as what he was talking about. 

The man apologized to his maid before saying he lost appetite and storming out to his bedroom, there was no way for him to shake off the creepy sensation of seeing such creatures. Vlad felt disgusted and nauseated to the point of vomiting.

“What was that?”- questioned the Mayor of Amity Park to himself upon locking the door.

He could still feel the slime on his finger though there was none on them anymore, there was simply no way for him to have hallucinated any of that, the wrinkles all over its slimy skin, the putrid stench emanating from within the fridge.

It was all too real for him to have imagined it, Vlad sat down on his needlessly large bed and wonders if perhaps the conversation he had with the janitor had affected him more than what he initially thought.

The man tried to distract himself from the absurd images he recently saw and therefore headed over to his computer to look up a little more about city hall and this madman named Thomas Smith, but as previously there was nothing else.

Around eight pm someone knocks on his bedroom door breaking his concentration for a brief moment before collecting himself again, Vlad stares at his door for a moment before asking who it was, from the other side a kind and old voice comes across.

“Master. We have thoroughly cleaned the kitchen and I’ve sent Pedro for fresh provisions”- said the voice from within the other side of the door as she added to have made tea for Vlad.

“Thank you so much, Martha, and once again, I’m so sorry for…”- Vlad stops midsentence.

Before him was indeed the head maid but her face was just as dark as the hallway behind her, Vlad couldn’t make out anything with the dark not even a wrinkled on Martha’s face. With a trembling hand, he cautiously took the teacup.

The only distinctive feature in his old maid was the darken headdress and worn-out white apron, it was almost as if he were watching a shadow in a maid uniform but dare not to mention it out of fear of acting like a madman once again.

“Once Pedro comes back, I’ll have your dinner ready sir”- said the woman as Vlad slowly closes the door while whispering a simple no.

(XXX)

Vlad couldn’t close his eyes throughout the whole night, the images of the rotten food in his fridge and his faceless maid haunted him through the night, Vlad considered himself a rational man but he couldn’t find any logical explanation for his sudden hallucinations.

Feeling unusually hungry the new Mayor got up and walks over to his kitchen, along the way there wasn’t a single sound to be heard though it was only six in the morning most of his maid staff should already be up.

From the stair rest window, he could see Pedro tenting to the garden, he was a young brown skin Latin man who did an exceptional job, he along some of the maids live in the workers quarters and often visit their families on weekends.

Leaving the man to his duties, Vlad carry on to the kitchen soon to be standing in from of his refrigerator once again, the white-haired man couldn’t help but feel uneasy as he slowly opens the cold device, much to his delight all within was fresh and in perfect conditions. 

After having a hearty breakfast and getting ready for his official first day as Mayor he got inside his fancy car and drove towards city hall, waving his goodbyes to head maid Martha and gardener Pedro as he crosses the main gate.

“Probably ate something spoiled and that crazy painting from yesterday made me have daymare or something? – said Vlad making sense of his previous hallucinations.

Traffic was heavier than normal making him arrive five minutes late, the man loathed being late for anything especially work-related, for him punctually was a presentation card and anyone who arrived late lost his good grace.

It was rather uncomfortable to work without Desiree but the woman deserves to enjoy her anniversary and her well earn vacations, yet Vlad had to deal with some college kid name Dora who could barely get things done.

The girl only had her long blonde hair going for her as for the rest she was quite the geeky kid, wearing thick glasses and clothes that seem more fit in the late seventies, worse of all was her excessively nervous nature. Always stuttering and getting her instructions wrong, she couldn’t even get Vlad’s coffee right, in order or on time. 

Vlad didn’t expect much from his new assistant though he did assume some degree of competence, thankfully he only had to endure the little wench for one single week. The new Mayor wanted to start off his first day going by the schedule Desiree made.

Unfortunately for Vlad that wasn’t possible as Dora mix up the day’s schedule and all his meetings were in disarray not to mention Spectra was sent to meet the teacher’s union representative two days before the appointed time.

The redhead didn’t take it lightly, kindly or with any amusement to be sent to the other side of the city for nothing, it was one hell of a first day for everyone involved. Spectra wanted to call Desiree back but the Mayor refused.

He looks over to Dora was a whimpering mess, Vlad understood it was her first job and didn’t have the experience or the energy to deal with the heavy workload the city hall office demands of her, Vlad calm Spectra down as he told to go home and relax.

Dora had the expression wanting to run out away but freezes up on her spot as the redhead passes next to her while glaring, the little blonde girl just moves her eyes away to avoid seeing Spectra up close making Vlad sigh.

“I know it’s your first ever job Dora but you gotta get your head in the game.”- said Vlad in the most reassuring way once Spectra left.

“Yes sir. I’ll do my best”- replied the girl.

It was already five o’clock and he needed to catch up on a lot of office work, therefore, he told Dora to go home but the girl wanted to make up for her mistakes, she assured her boss that with so little people around she wasn’t going to make as many mistakes.

Reluctantly he accepted and let her help him out, though was pleasantly surprised at how fast she was going. Vlad realized her only deficiency was her extreme shyness but putting that aside she was quite good, not at the level of Desiree but acceptable. 

Once it becomes night Vlad asked her to go home as she didn’t own any vehicle and he didn’t want to take any sort of responsibility if anything were too happened to her, the girl was much more relaxed now that she somehow made up for some of her mistakes.

Though Vlad was sure she would make them all over again the following day, she left the office with a large and happy smile letting the new Mayor sigh in relief as she was completely out of sight, he had seen incompetence before but at least she was willing to make up for them.

With his paperwork safely tuck inside his briefcase Vlad headed over to the door when Dora rushes back in saying she forgot her purse, it seems the girl was bound to make mistakes no matter what, it did have some amusement to it.

“Sorry mister Vlad…” apologized the girl, “hey I know that tapestry over there”- added the girl pointing to the Indian tapestry hanging over the door. 

“Really? You know what tribe it’s from?”- questioned the man.

Not really but it was named after an animal or something… the first settlers bought off the land from the Indians and actually build city hall over the former chief’s house”- answered the blonde hair girl.

Vlad wasn’t too interested in local history but was fascinated by this little piece of the past Dora shared with him, according to her most of the town was built over the Indian town after buying it though Vlad wonders if the settlers actually bought it off them or simply stole it. 

The sudden of vehicle’s claxon was heard and Dora rushed out saying Aragon comes to pick her up while she waves goodbye to her boss, the man was thankful someone came to pick her up as he didn’t want to have some sort of scandal for keeping the girl at late hours of the night.

He already had more than enough with Timothy ’s little chat with the media during their campaigning, Vlad was glad the old smaller man had the common sense of not coming to bother her him anymore. 

All in all it took them about three hours to finished up and fix all the mistakes she did, though Vlad did consider in pulling some ears for leaving him and Dora to fix this mess on their own, he needed to reorganize his staff but for everyone to leave at exactly five o’clock was absurd.

From the window he spotted a long hair man sitting over a motorcycle on the other side of the fence, from what he could tell he was chatting with one of the guards though he started his bike once Dora shows up, the girl waves her hand to the guards before leaving.

(XXXXX)

Not wanting to spend any longer than he needed to, Vlad too follows in Dora’s footsteps and walks out the office making a quick stop in the lounge to pick up a sandwich and coffee from the vending machine, the hallways were mostly dark as almost everyone had left already.

On his walk down to the lounge, he noticed light rain had started and hope Dora and who Vlad assumed was her boyfriend got home before the rain got worse, he didn’t have to worry about the rain thanks to his umbrella and car. 

The man had grown certain fondness of the simple sandwich and cheap coffee from the vending machines in the lounge, as he took the bite of his humble meal he turns around and stops chewing upon seeing a large shadowy figure standing at the end of the semi-dark hall.

Standing with his back against the window the shadow looks over to Vlad’s general direction. The Mayor was sure there were two guards outside and only one roaming around city hall, perhaps it was simply a junkie who broke in and was more afraid of Vlad. 

With his hearth beating long loud and hard, Vlad decided to show his courage as the city’s leader and try to get the intruder to leave on his own, but as Vlad came closer, he saw the man was huge and build like a brick wall.

Vlad stops at a fairly good distance as he noticed the man was towering over him, his arms as big as a bodybuilder. The Mayor of Amity Park let his coffee and sandwich fall to the ground as the intruder walks closer to the light.

Dress like an Indian warrior with a large black plume over his head, face painted in red, a loincloth over his waist showing his harden muscles but most frightening of all was the tomahawk in his right hand and a bone made Warhammer on the other.

“Listen…this is city hall and you’re not welcome here… please get out…”- almost whimpered Vlad as he was about to piss his pants.

Vlad was alone in the building with the only guard inside whereabouts unknown, but even if the guard was present, there wasn’t much he could do giving his nearly sixty-year-old age, the previous Mayor had forced his security to leave their guns in the guard station to avoid accidents.

The warrior gave out a loud a powerful war cry as he lung over to Vlad with his tomahawk rise above his head, Vlad too gave out a loud but very scared scream more a shriek than anything else, he turns around as he hardly dodges the deadly cut. 

Vlad could feel how the blade cut off part of his ponytail but the felt an even worse sensation as he knew the blade touches his shoulder just under the base of his neck, never had he ran so fast in his whole life but never before had he been chased by a madman.

The lounge was close to the main door but as he came closer lightning struck outside revealing a woman dressed just like the madman as she jumps from the first floor closing his path, the deranged woman tried to stab him with a lance, Vlad saw the blade a little too close for his personal comfort.

Thinking fast he rushes up the stairs straight to his office while screaming for help, the madwoman chases him up the stairs as the Indian madman effortlessly jumps up to the first floor in a single leap. Slamming the door behind and locking it up, he could see how the door was being pounded on.

There wasn’t much he could do, for a moment he considers jumping out the window though before he could do such a reckless thing Vlad recalls the guard station outside, screaming his lungs out towards the guards outside.

“Isn’t that the Mayor?”- asked a guard.

“I think there’s trouble”- replied his partner as both runs towards city hall.

Vlad’s desk was too heavy for him to move and the only thing he could use to barricade the door was a bookstand near the door, but this too proves too heavy for him to move on his own. Suddenly the pounding stop.

Vlad coward up in the corner as he heard the most horrifying sound ever; the creaking of the door as it opens on its own.

“Mayor Vlad? Are ok?”- asked a young voice. 

Four guards came in with their flashlights shining brightly around the room searching for him, with tears in his eyes he hastily explains about the crazies outside while ordering them to call for the police.

“Cops are on their way, don’t worry there’s no one outside”- said the oldest of the guards. The other three stood outside waiting for the police to arrive. 

(XXXX)

Vlad stare at the patrol cars as they shine the red and blue light around the courtyard, several policemen scouted city hall in search for the insane couple who tried to kill the city Mayor, he was sure the city hall needed a serious improvement in security matters.

More armed guards and to have some of those new and fancy cameras, though he couldn’t understand why someone would want him dead, sure enough, he trampled over a fair amount of people on his way up but to send people to kill him in such a dramatic fashion was strange in itself.

It didn’t matter how hard Vlad thought about, he couldn’t recall having crossed with natives or any tribesmen for that matter. If anyone wanted him dead why go for something so impractical when they could simply shoot him in the back.

“Mister Mayor, we just finished checking the premises”- said a police detective.

“Good, did you catch them?”- questioned Vlad standing with his back straighten out and his hands behind his back while showing his most proudful stance despite all his screaming earlier.

“About that… we couldn’t find anything relevant, not even a footprint despite the rain.”- answered the detective.

Vlad glared at the detective for not being able to find anything about the assassins, he noticed some policemen were smirking at him, only Vlad saw the “Indians” not even the guards who arrive mere seconds after they left saw anything. 

The man headed over to his office door to show him the marks the madmen who hunted him like bloodhounds left but the wood was spotless, Vlad pass his hand over the door but couldn’t even feel a single splinter, with all the hard pounding going on the door surely must have at least a broken piece. 

“Is this some sort of a joke”- Vlad demanded more than questioned.

“That’s what I would like to know sir”- replied the detective.

Vlad was more than sure of what he saw but even after showing how the tomahawk cut part of his ponytail no one believes him, soon the police left city hall after telling him to call if anything comes up or if his imaginary friends get angry again.

The Mayor had one shitty first day, the girl Desiree assign to cover for her was a mess and now he had another hallucination, worse yet he made a fool of himself in front of a dozen people. His day couldn’t get any worse than this and it was only Monday.

As Vlad was getting ready to go home, he spots a young security guard at the door, the man was hardly twenty years old and still had a childlike face, it was a wonder why he was even hired in the first place.

“What?”- said Vlad in a stern voice.

“Um…sir… I got your car ready”- said the man.

Once in his car, Vlad drove back to his manor glad to finally call it a day. The man wondered why he was suffering from hallucinations all of a sudden, no one in his family had suffered from any form of dementia.

It was the first time he actually orders for a simple and humble pizza for dinner, it was already late and his staff was well asleep, not to mention, he lacks the endurance to cook anything at the moment, he just wanted something in his stomach and be off to bed.

(XXXX)

His next day as Mayor was plagued with strange stares and silly giggles, it was more than apparent that the night guards didn’t know how to keep their mouths shut, thankfully there weren’t any news reporters around.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any way for him to outlive such public humiliation. People came and went all day long but just as Vlad expected his new assistant was still as useless as ever, though she did cut her mistakes in half by now.

“Seriously, I don’t think I can handle this girl for the whole week.” Said Spectra.

It was no secret how much she dislikes Dora for her incompetence, the redhead could hardly believe she was top of her class for three straight years but to be fair she was still attending law school and was quite new to the real world.

Though Vlad would never let anyone speak thrash behind his back there were bigger and more serious concerns to attend to at the moment, first and foremost was make sure the hallucinations didn’t take place again. 

Under more normal circumstances he would have made Desiree book an appointment with a prestige psychiatrist and get some happy pills, but with the tan woman out on vacations Vlad had to arrange the meeting himself as he didn’t trust Dora to handle such a delicate matter.

Not to mention how embarrassing it was for him to ask a twenty-year-old to set him up with a shrink. The fierce business multimillionaire who crumbled dozens of small-time businesses to make his own empire now jumping at shadows and running like a scared little girl from men who didn’t exist.

Spectra knew what went down the previous night but had the decency of not troubling the Mayor with the details. The day went on as normal, boring meetings and attempted bribes done by local politicians who got kicked out from the office.

Even seeing Dora trip on her own two clumsy feet spilling Vlad’s coffee had a certain degree of charm, though Vlad would have preferred for her not to spill anything on the antique wooden floor, unlike before Vlad was the first to leave. 

“Mayor Vlad don’t forget you have breakfast with the worker’s union representative at nine”- said Dora as both walk out the main door. The breakfast with the representative was the last thing on his head, he couldn’t shake off the horrid sensation of being watched. 

On his way home, Vlad made an unscheduled stop at the local library, Vlad wanted to know more about this Victor Wulf. The Mayor knew curse and spirits weren’t real but someone tried to kill him, as far as he knew the cops could be in it as well.

“I’m being silly I know”- said the man as he wanders into the historical section.

Most books were about the revolutionary war, and the early years of the country, hardly anything about the native tribes. Only the biggest tribes that had a direct connection with American history were only mention every so often in random history books.

“Excuse me miss but where can I find something about the town’s foundation and local tribes?”- asked Vlad to a librarian.

Much to his delight the Mayor was taken to a whole section explaining about Amity’s foundation, its early years and how it grew but no matter how hard he searched there wasn’t anything relevant towards the natives or Victor.

Often only being refer to as “The Native” or the “Indians” but never given an actual name which Vlad found to be rather offensive, the local tribes according to the history books he had in his hands and the ones he read during his high school years all agree the native help the settlers greatly.

After scanning several books, he only saw one or two paragraphs mentioning Victor, strangely enough, it said the tribes were paid off for them to leave Amity Park, though never specifying the amount of gold they were given.

“Hello, sorry to bother but are Mayor Vlad?”- asked an elderly man.

“Yes, good evening”- said Vlad.

(XXXXX)

The old man was a college history professor under the name James Bradley studying the local history for quite a few years now, it was too much of a coincidence but seeing both were in the only library in Amity didn’t seem so strange. 

Vlad knew to take an opportunity when he saw one, he could obtain more knowledge about Amity’s history from the man than from any book in the entire library. Much to his surprise, the town’s history was darker than he expected.

Slave markets and constant fighting with the natives, it wasn’t the kind paradise the history books explain, according to the books in the library the natives receive the settlers with open arms and Amity was the first colony to refuse the use of slaves.

“Please Mayor Vlad, you should know by now that there’s no bad Americans in history books, that’s outside, that’s the reds, Nazis, and gooks they’re the evil ones and the savage ones. Not here, never here.”- said professor Bradly.

Vlad knew history books were too sugarcoated to be true, they could trick schoolboys but to think the natives simply welcome the settlers, absolutely no slavery at any point before the civil war was just too good to be true.

“Take Victor Wulf for example, he was one nasty piece of work. A wife-beater, a drunkard and a complete hooligan even during time as a Mayor, that’s on the books what’s not there is that he was a slave owner who work them to death, a rapist who enjoyed little girls and the sick fuck shot Indians like he shot his whiskey bottles.”- explained the professor.

Vlad knew Victor was an evil man but to such extent was unheard of, he was well aware how the government tried to cover up many of the atrocity that took place so long ago, it was easier if it was local history.

Bradly was making a book out of it he titled “The dark truth of Amity Park.” 

“Why did he shoot his wife and kids?”- asked Vlad whispering.

“Shot? No, no, no, he didn’t shoot them, that sick dog ripped them apart after his little genocide at the Indian camp”- replied Bradly.

Just like Vlad expected the Indians didn’t sell their land to the settlers, as far as he knew the natives didn’t give gold any value so why traded their homes for something worthless to them, Bradly explain that how Victor became Mayor.

Having let the attack and personally killing the Indian chief made him into some sort of local hero but his cruelty was too great to ignore, butchering his wife and daughters was the last straw and the townsfolk chase him out. 

“Some say he found death at the hands of the surviving Indians but without a body that’s hard to prove”- said Bradly. 

(XXXXX)

The rest of the week went on without any major incidents, Desiree would be coming back on Monday though he would miss Dora’s little blunders and seeing Spectra turn redder than her hair at the same mistakes he found almost hilarious. 

The professor had promised to send him a copy of his findings through Vlad wasn’t so sure he really wanted to know the truth of Amity Park, he just likes the rest of the people could live happily in ignorance, relishing the lies they were fed every day. 

“No strange goosebumps or hallucinations that last time was just a fluke”- said Vlad.

Vlad reclines on his fancy leather chair as waited for everyone to leave, as much as he hated the town’s true history, he also loathed the fact he became somewhat addicted to the bland sandwiches at the expending machine. 

The new and very expensive security cameras he ordered would be arriving next week which meant hiring more personal and having a place where to put the monitoring room. Thankfully the hired assassins didn’t try anything again though the police told him everything was in his head.

Even his psychiatrist told him he was overwork and stress out. On his way down he saw the Thomas the janitor mopping up the floors as he always did though Vlad only saw him during the night on the rare occasions he stays late.

“I’ll have… pastrami this time”- whispered Vlad to no one in particular. “Fudge bucket. Left my briefcase in the office”- 

Vlad climb up the stairs again begrudging have to go back all the way to his office again, he stops at first floor and slowly turns around. The man drops his sandwich upon seeing the unnatural tall Indian armed with the tomahawk at the door.

The female warrior stood at the end of the hallway with her spear, but the janitor was nowhere to be seen. Slowly he back away knowing his only exit was blocked away, he curses his taste for the wretched snack in the vending machine, almost at the verge of tears Vlad turns over to his office. 

A third Indian stood mere inches away from him, the man tower Vlad by almost two heads high. The cold steel in his tomahawk let him know it was no hallucination, it was real and these people wanted him dead.

“Time to pay Victor”- said the Indian man.

“Wrong guy… I’m not victor, the name’s Vlad Masters”- whimpered the Mayor.

“No fool… gray hair…White man chief”- replied in a cold voice.

Vlad pushed the warrior out of the way as he dashed to his office but before he could close the door both warriors kicked him in the chest, the man vomits his simple dinner as he had never felt such pain in his life.

“Please, what do you want? Money? Is that it? To get paid for your land?”- cried the man.

“Blood…”-

(XXXXX)

Two guards were gawking Vlad’s convertible stating how someday they’ll buy one and take their girls out for a ride around town, the leather seats and powerful engine, the younger guard had the audacity of rubbing his hand over the hood.

Both men turn around upon hearing the window shatter, Vlad’s lifeless body hit the ground head first.

“Call an ambulance!!!”- ordered the oldest guard.

(XXXXX)

A few days later at Amity Park’s university during lunch break a young girl and her hippie friends were listening to the radio as a news flash about the passing of Mayor Vladimir Master came up, the girl tried to change stations before she was stopped by her history teacher.

“Wait, I know want to listen”- said the teacher.

“Mayor Vlad Master who recently took office just a week ago committed suicide a few nights ago. He jumps out from his office window landing on his head.” Said the radio broadcaster. 

Bradly couldn’t believe Vlad would do something so horrible to himself, perhaps he couldn’t handle the truth after all though he wonders how the man would have taken the news of City Hall been built over an Indian cemetery.

“This just in… some vandals broke into city morgue and scalp former Mayor Vlad Masters; how can people be so cruel to a dead man.”

The End.


	2. A drink to die for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Down on her luck, Ember takes the chance of a lifetime

Grim Tales of Amity Park

One-shot horror stories base on Danny Phantom

All characters belong to Butch Hartman

A Drink to die for

Loud music echo within the hall of an underground nightclub, four musicians were giving their all on the stage with powerful chords and impressive lyrics, men and women watching the guitar chords of a young black hair rocker.

Her voice powerful like and sweet, behind her was a taller man working the bass and younger teen on the keyboard to the right and a young girl on the drums to the left, all playing in perfect synch.

The crowd cheers her on as she’s about to start her solo, but the moment her slender fingers touch the string it snaps, the rest follow soon after changing the cheering for laughter. The black hair girl paralyzes on her spot unable to think.

Her drummer stood up trying to reach the black hair singer and pull her away from the laughing crowd but her foot got stuck making her fall over her drums, the singer turns over to the fallen girl as the bass player was helping her up.

The teen on the keyboard head over to the drummer and try to move her instrument but didn’t see the cable on the floor, the black hair singer watches him fall over the rest of the band, the grand night she was waiting for was ruin.

She and her band were supposed to be discovered by a famous record company but now had turned in a comedy quartet, people laughing their wits out as she led her band down the stage with a humiliated expression.

“And that was comrade Ember McLain and her commie rock pirates”- said the DJ as the girl disappear into the backstage.

“Yo fuck you man!!”- said the bass player before following the lead singer.

All three look at the Ember as she put her guitar inside its case not looking at them, she failed them or so she said before walking out the back door, no music producer caught up to her nor did any fan ask for an autograph.

None of her friends spoke to her as they knew she needed time to cool down, it wasn’t the first time this happened, as a matter of fact, it was the sixth time the concert was a fiasco, if it wasn’t her guitar breaking down, it was her boyfriend’s bass, the keyboard or the drums, sometimes all together.

Ember was more than tired of this nonsense, she imagined her music debut would be within the first few weeks after she started hitting the nightclubs but not the hottest clubs in town, the girl and her band were lucky if they could get a gig in some rundown club.

“Yo Skulker can you go see the club owner for our money”- said the brown hair drummer girl.

“Sure thing Mary”- replied the man.

“For fuck's sake man, it’s Snake and my bro’s Skull, how many fucking times do I have to remind you.”- corrected the girl as she puts her hand over Ember’s shoulder. 

Skulker’s laugh out as he walks over to the owner’s office to collect their money for the gig they pull off, the band knew things were bad already, they couldn’t even finish the concert they were hired to do at the club.

A knocking was heard near the door making the trio turn over, at the door was the bartender who casually walks over to Ember asking for his buffer, the girl simply pointed over to the stage telling him to pick up and leave her alone. 

Snake and Skull left their rock leader in the backstage as they pick up the instruments, no one even looks at them as guests were too busy getting drunk or trying to pick up a one-night stand. The brown hair was getting a few lustful glances from a couple of men.

“You know big bro, sometimes I’m tempted in actually letting myself get picked up by one of these guys”- said Mary best known as Snake.

“Who's gonna wanna bang your flat ass”- replied her brother Thomas also known as Skull.

The two siblings took their instruments and met with the rest of the band outside the club, Thomas knew his sister was serious about having a one-night stand if it meant sleeping on a soft hotel bed, but she didn’t have the courage to follow some stranger. 

Soon they found themselves standing in front an old beaten up black van the four teens had called home for the last year, Ember started to load the van with their instruments clearly angered by how bad things ended.

“We were up for two more songs and this shit had to snap”- said Ember tempted in smashing her electric guitar on the floor. 

Skulker wraps his arms around her making the rocker calm down, the electric guitar was the only expensive instrument they had in their possession as it was fairly new, the drums, keyboard, and bass were all hand me downs.

“Yo Skulker. How much we got”- said Skull.

“Two hundred”- replied the man.

All the three teens looked at him with a disappointed face as they were expecting at least a hundred, but given the fact they couldn’t finish the gig and had to step down let the club owner abuse his position giving them less than half of the agreed amount.

(XXXX)

Later that night the band park the van near a somewhat safe alley free of hobos, two hundred dollars wasn’t enough to feed them until the next gig, the van needed gas and some rather desperate repairs but not only Ember’s guitar needed new strings.

Skulker’s bass needed some as well, the keyboards were missing some keys and stood thanks to some duct tape after Snake felt over the drums these too needed some serious TLC, Ember knew from the start, money would be an issue but to such a degree was something unforeseen.

The black hair girl laid over Skulker’s chest, they had been in a relationship for almost a full year. Though they had a three-year age gap, under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be an issue but the fact she was sixteen made into one. 

Next to her was Snake trying to get some rest on the cold Van floor, her brother laid besides but had a much harder time sleeping than his sister, there was a time either of them could bear the idea of sleeping next to each other.

Though by this moment it was so trivial it didn’t matter anymore. Ember’s head moved up and down as her boyfriend sleep peacefully, the man had a small job at a car washing joint the following day thanks to a friend of his.

“Get your damn hand off me, pervert!”- yelled out Snake to her brother.

Ember was used to hearing them argue in the morning for their sleeping arrangements, on more than one occasion one of them end up hugging the other due to the cold, the lack of proper blankest would be a serious issue in winter.

Amity Park was known for having below zero temperatures hopefully, by then they would at least have a cheap apartment and be singing in much better clubs than the bars and the rundown wanna be nightclubs they were rarely getting work at.

Skulker headed over to his car wash job while Skull headed over to the train station to beg some money with his leftover keyboard, Ember and Snake did the same at the nearby park. To be begging for money was something they never thought would do.

But being minors meant they couldn’t get real jobs or any other means to obtain money. With Ember’s acoustic guitar and Snake’s mini drums, they played at the local park in hopes of making some cash, enough to feed themselves and bring back some to the band.

Both girls were sick and tired of the cheap fast food menu or to go into the homeless shelter for a meal, as they play their music for the ongoing pedestrians Ember spots a group of teenagers dressed in the most recent fashion.

One stood out among the rest, a young tan Latin girl with long silky ebony hair, just her sunglasses were more expensive than all Ember had on her at this moment, the rocker lowers her head as the girls pass by, she felt embarrassed about her own attires, even worse when the Latin girl tossed a couple of dollar unto her guitar case.

Ember understood the tan girl didn’t mean anything bad by it, both musicians were there to make some money but it felt so humiliating to have a girl her age give her some charity, but the rocker could only smile as she continues playing her guitar.

The rocker looks down on her clothes, her black leather pants were so run down they hardly differenced from a hobo’s pants, her top had many small rips all over though Snake and her boyfriend told her it looks so rock yet she wanted to wear brand clothes and have a truly good guitar.

Both girls had changed their sets for something that expose more skin, Snake made sure to show as much skin as she could sporting a miniskirt and a black top exposing her belly just like Ember, they wouldn’t look any different from common hooker if it weren’t for their musical instruments.

“I’ll go get us something to eat, watch the fort”- said Ember as she left her guitar in Snake’s care. 

Ember crossed the street trying to figure out a way to get better gigs at better nightclubs, though what she wanted was to stand in on the biggest stage of Amity Park, to be famous. That was the sole reason she left her house.

Her parents didn’t approve of her empty dreams or of her deadbeat boyfriend, there moments in which she wondered if they were right all along. As per usual she orders from the counter the same cheap meal as not spending too much money.

With a couple of cheap tasteless burgers and no drinks Ember head back to her friend only to see her chatting with a couple of guys, they didn’t seem to be harassing the brown hair girl given her big smile, though she removes her hand from his wrist the moment she saw the black hair girl.

“Think about it”- said the man before leaving.

“What’s that all about?”- asked the rocker.

“Nothing just wanted some directions.”- replied the girl.

The girls constantly change places around the park to avoid the baking sun, trying to get the most possible income as they could but by six pm, they could only get two dollars in their pockets already excluding the thirty cents they spent on food at the local Nasty burger.

Ember looks at her friend as it didn’t take her much to notice the number of times she was gazing at her wristwatch, Snake did it so frequently Ember would have to be blind to not notice it. Once their instruments were in their respective cases Mary takes hold of Ember’s pinky.

Her eyes told her she was afraid but also that she wanted to tell her something important, both girls had known each other for years and were able to read one another like an open book, with a concern look Ember ask what was wrong.

“Remember that guy from this morning?”- asked the girl.

The rocker did recall the man from earlier, young morbidly thin with short black hair, Ember didn’t like the creep from the instant she saw him, the guy left seconds before she could hear what they were talking about.

“He…well…I… fuck it, he offered me hundred for my V-card”- said the girl.

Ember felt like throwing up on the spot and to slap some senses into her head, but seeing the girl shaking made her realize it took great courage to tell her this, Mary was the smart one of the group, she wrote most of Ember’s songs.

“Tell me you said fucking NO”- demanded the rocker. 

“Told him to shove it up his ass”- replied the girl with a loud laugh.

Ember was glad her friend had the commonsense to tell him off, despite their desperate financial need it was too risky and deplorable, they were hardcore rockers, not petty street whores, jokingly they walk back to the alley where the van was park.

Suddenly Mary’s stomach growls loudly making her blush, Ember was equally hungry but her stomach didn’t roar like her friend’s. both recalls having only a couple of small cheap burgers, that was all they had in their belly’s since morning. 

“Yo babes, wanna have some grub with us?”- said a man making the girls turn around.

Two men were standing close to them forcing Mary to hug her drums close to her chest, once more they repeat their offer to take to the Nasty Burger for a bite to eat, Mary was slightly enticed by the offer but saw van parking close.

“No thanks”- said Ember taking her friend by the hand.

She didn’t trust the men in the least but as she turns away from them a third man cuts her path insisting that they should accept their offer if they knew what was good for them, now the girls knew these men had heinous intentions with them. 

Ember tried to bypass the men but as she does one of them who she assumed was the group leader takes hold of her wrist pulling her to him, her face pale up as she saw his lustful eye pierce into her own eyes.

“Let go of me!”- yelled out the girl hoping someone would listen and come to help.

“Don’t flip your wig bitch”- said one of the men as he tried to pull Ember inside the car.

The rocker learn a long time ago how cold Amity Park can be, some people watch over from abroad before leaving the girls on their own, her heart nearly stopped as she saw a couple of the guys trying to put Mary inside the car.

“The fuck going on there!!”- screamed deli shop owner showing his shotgun.

Refusing to play the victim Ember took the momentary distraction to headbutt the leader straight in the nose followed by striking her guitar case unto his chin, the man stood for a brief second before falling unconscious on the floor. 

Mary kicks the man in front of her before Ember used her guitar case as a battering ram on the third man, the other boys just look in full shock as the girls ran away while deli owner yelled about calling the cops on them.

Never had they ran so fast before in their whole life, the tears streaming down their eyes made their escape even harder but both girls managed to reach the subway station and jump inside the first train they saw.

(XXXXX)

“Hey, Skulker it’s getting late, where the fuck are the girls?”- asked Thomas more concern about his sister than for Ember.

From around the corner came out Mary the Snake and Rachel the Ember, both girls cover in sweat and tears, the boys had lumps formed within their throats as they saw the mess their girls were in, without wasting a single second they rush over.

“The hell happened?!” -half screamed Skulker. 

Both girls broke down crying as Ember and Mary took turns trying to explain about the men that tried to abduct them, Skull was already on the warpath but without a name he had no one to go after, Skulker wanted to draw blood as he held his girlfriend.

Mary was shaking mess, she just couldn’t stand this lifestyle anymore, she wanted to call it quits but her brother told too much had been sacrificed to give up now, the brown hair girl looks at the band as tears stream down her eyes.

“I’m tired of this shit”- Whimpered the girl.

She wasn’t the only one tired of sleeping on the hard-cold van, to eat when possible and only if there was some cash around, but Mary was feeling it the most. Her home was no palace but she had a bed and three meals a day, both she and her brother went to school, now all that was gone.

Even dealing with petty bullying sounded much better than to live in the van or to take the risk of getting kidnapped and rape, Ember couldn’t utter a single word as she only watches her friend break down crying as Thomas tried to calm her down.

“This is my fault; I should have seen those guys coming up.”- said Ember as she sat on the dirty floor.

“No, I’m sorry for acting like a baby. It just got to me.”- replied Snake.

The mood didn’t improve as they pool their day’s earnings, the girls barely got two dollars between the two of them, Skulker was getting paid on Friday which meant no money on his end, the three rockers look over to Thomas who only got about twenty cents.

Under normal circumstances, he brought around two or even three dollars on a good day, but this was seriously one of his worse days, but the boy a fairly good reason for his lack of income. He waited for Skulker to come back with some bread and peanut butter for dinner.

“Guys listen, these last few weeks I’ve seen some crazy old Russian guy at the subway, and he has this huge Rolex”- said Thomas.

“So what?”- replied Ember as she took a bite off her peanut butter sandwich.

“I followed him all the way to the projects just out of Amity”- answered the boy as he chews on his meal.

The boy exposes how he tailed the old man from the train station all the way to his house in the projects hence his lack of income, everyone understood the implications he was making by telling them and didn’t like it one bit.

“We ain’t thieves, man,” said Ember. The three rockers didn’t need an explanation of what Thomas was implying.

The boy looks straight at Ember and passes his eyes over to Skulker and to his sister, knowing his sister was about to be kidnapped by a group of thugs was his breaking point. There was no way he could risk her anymore.

“For fuck’s sake, wake up people! Those fucking animals could try again.”- said Skull.

Tired of the same shitty life and knowing his sister was in danger he proposes to rob the old man, just the watch was more than enough to set them straight. Their music wasn’t selling, all four were stuck inside the van barely making enough money to eat. 

None of the rockers could argue against the facts but were adamant about stealing from an old man, Skulker looks over to his girlfriend regretful of conniving her to chase after her dreams, the reality wasn’t as kind as he thought.

Her lyrics and guitar were both spot on, her voice powerful but apparently that wasn’t enough to make them climb the ladders of fame, he knew dreams couldn’t feed his girlfriend, give a proper roof or keep the sick degenerates away.

“Let’s just sleep on it and what’s what tomorrow”- concluded the oldest of the band. 

(XXXX)

Ember was the first to wake up as she could barely get some rest given her previous ordeal, the girl just sat down on the edge of the van while her friends remain asleep, with a deep sigh she walks around the vehicle straight to bucket with water they use to clean themselves up.

Just like her friends she too was tired of living like a hobo, upon glancing at her reflection in the side-view mirror, the rocker noticed her iconic black hair was fading and the blond roots were starting to show, with another long and deep sigh she sat on a crate.

Everything was crumbling down all around her, they lost two of their side instruments which they use to make some money and couldn’t use their main ones, not only because they were damage but also due to the fear of having them stolen.

“Hey babe, how you doing?”- asked Skulker as he wraps his arms around her shoulders.

He knew just how much Ember hated the life he basically forces on her, the man had promised her the life of a successful rock star but instead, they were barely above the status of a hobo if not for the van they might as well live on the streets.

“I had a hard time sleeping”- replied the rocker. 

Skulker left the teens in the van as he had to go to his car washing gig, the very same he hated but now more than ever needed the cash. Mary was too scared to go out to fetch money and without the guitar, Ember couldn’t do much.

Not to mention neither of the boys wanted to expose the girls any further, Ember look around for the remaining bread and peanut butter to make some breakfast for Thomas and Mary. Soon her boyfriend disappears around the corner as she headed over to wake her friends up.

It was a bizarre sight to see Mary with her arm around her brother’s arm but given her near kidnapped it was normal for her to seek comfort, gently Ember shook the girl’s leg in an effort of waking her up.

Though for the first time neither of them cursed each other out for hugging while sleeping, the girl looked defeated and her brother didn’t want to tease her for anything, without their instruments it was going to be extra hard for them to get the ever so needed money.

“I’m gonna go see if I can make some cash at the subway”- said Thomas.

His sister was extremely adamant about Thomas leaving but Ember convinced her about needed the money. Mary was still a mess but despite Ember wanting to break down she had to show strength for her friend.

“Try to relax, those guys don’t know where here”- said Ember trying to calm her friend down.

“Yeah I know but I can’t stop thinking about what they would have done to me”- replied the girl.

Mary told her bestie if perhaps things would have been different if she had taken the pervert’s offer and slept with him, then those men wouldn’t have seen them and not only would they still have their instruments, they be five hundred dollars richer. 

“Don’t say that, those creeps were already tailing us”- retorted the girl.

Snake didn’t like the assumption Ember was making for it implied the guys already knew where they were staying at, for hours she kept her eyes glued to the alley entrance fearing those degenerates would walk in.

Thomas was the first to come back around three o’clock, about two hours shorter than his regular time. The guy seemed upset about something but spoke only after his sister offers him some water though he would have much preferred it to be cold.

“Some pigs told me to leave otherwise they haul my ass in for vagrancy”- said Thomas as he drank his water.

Another source of income had been knocked down, Mary was too afraid to go out of the alley to play music and get more money through Ember didn’t say it out loud but she too was quite scared herself though without her guitar she was useless.

Nevertheless, bad news always comes in three, Skulker arrives explaining about being fired due to some entitled lady-boy who accuses him of scratching his new paint job, Skulker was many things but patient wasn’t one of them.

After knocking out some teeth out he left the car wash penniless and in full uniform, it was the first time he saw Ember so shock. In a single day, everything around her was falling apart, no one was hiring them at any club, they lost their only source of income and finally they were attacked by a trio of degenerates.

“Seems we don’t have many options now”- said Thomas.

(XXXX)

The van park in between some houses under construction, far enough to avoid raising suspicions but close enough to let them see the house they were about to break in, none of the teens could believe what they were about to do.

All around were several houses under construction, with only a handful already occupied. In complete silence the rock band waited until it got dark, they would have to move carefully until they’ve taken enough valuables.

“Ok guys, this is the plan.”- said Skulker.

The man only wanted to take small objects, something easy to hide which meant televisions and stereos were out of the question as they were too big, only cash jewels and other small valuables, things they could easily sell or pawn without too many questions. 

Skull hurry ahead to make sure the coast was clear, rather than risking to walk out in the open the trio made their way through the half-built houses, as they came closer to the house, they noticed the only light on was on the first floor.

According to Thomas the Skull, only one person was living here, an old man, therefore, it was easy to assume he slept early, it was no secret the boy would have done the robbery with or without them as he wanted to put his sister out of harm’s way.

The trio hid behind some wooden beams as they waited for their friend to give them the go-ahead, after some long breathtaking minutes they saw Skull waving at them. The rock band rush towards the house. As they came closer the first thing, they noticed was a broken window and the back door open. 

“Don’t worry I used duct tape to avoid making a ruckus”- said the boy. 

Thomas learned a few streetwise tricks thanks to his time out in the subway, it was surprising how friendly the homeless can be after sharing a meal with them, using duct tape over the glass to muffle the noise and then striking it with a hammer. 

The band enter through the kitchen, it was slightly emptier than they had expected just a fridge, a table, and some pottery. Going against commonsense Mary open the refrigerator and pull out the milk carton nearly emptying in a single gulp.

Her friends watch her with shock expression as they couldn’t believe the first thing, she stole was milk, sure they were all hungry but hope that the adrenaline was more than enough to quell whatever hunger they had. 

“What? Let’s go”- half whispered the girl. 

Unlike the kitchen, the living room seems much more furnish with a decent size television and an old radio in the corner, several bookstands against the walls. Their main target was the watch as it was the easiest thing they could sell for a large sum of money.

The house in itself was rather small though perfect for a single man, a kitchen in the back with the necessary supplies and a second room that served as a studio, while the two siblings search the living room, Ember and Skulker enter the studio. 

Within the room was a desk place against the wall far from the window, some photographs on a shelve and a file cabinet near the corner. Ember walks closer to the desk in hopes of finding the watch but instead, she found the house owner’s wallet.

“Nicolai…” whispered Ember as she took the driver’s license instead of going straight for the money. 

She loathed the idea of becoming a common theft but was also tired of living on scraps and leftovers, moving her eyes to the wall she spots a diploma safely guarded behind a wooden frame with a much younger picture of Nicolai.

“Come on babe, he makes top dollar, won’t even notice some bills missing”- assured Skulker.

“You’re right”- agreed the teen with his older peer.

(XXXX)

A sudden scream coming from the floor above made a cold shiver run up Ember’s spine as she and her boyfriend ran up the stairs fearing Nicolai had them Thomas or Mary at gunpoint, but as they reach the first floor Ember saw her bestie on crouching on the floor.

“Are you ok? What happened?”- questioned the rocker.

But all the answer she got was a finger pointing to the inside of the room, as she and Skulker carefully walk inside fearing the worse they saw Thomas standing in front of the bed and soon the master of the house.

“My God”- whispered Ember as she covers her mouth with both hands.

Before her eyes were none other than Nicolai comfortably sitting on his bed with his back to the bedrest, a book in hand but his head hanging to the side accompanied by a fault stench, not strong enough to push any of them away. 

“You think he’s dead?”- asked Thomas.

“No Einstein he’s asleep”- sarcastically replied the girl.

Thomas couldn’t stomach the sight of the dead man anymore and escorted his sister back to the lower floor, Skulker remain in the door and told Ember to leave the old man be, but his girl retorted saying she wanted to cover Nicolai with a blanket out of respect before joining them downstairs. 

Skulker simply told her to hurry up as he too had reached his limit, within seconds the man vanished. Ember walk closer to Nicolai’s corpse as she covers her mouth, gently she takes the watch from the end table, certain guilt overwhelms her as she opts to cover his face with the blanket.

The watch she came for was sitting on the end table next to the bed almost calling for her, but as she takes the wristwatch the girl noticed a metallic box reflected on the full body mirror, though before she could act on her lower instincts, her eyes mover towards Nicolai who she swore was watching her. 

The cold night demanded heavy and thick blankets, the very same she and her friends so desperately needed, the moment she lifts the blanket to cover his face a foul stench is release forcing her away, as Ember regains her composure, she sees half of Nicolai was missing. 

“Oh”- said the girl.

Ember calmly walks out of there shutting the door firmly behind her, the old man didn’t die of natural causes but was murder given the missing half. With tears in her eyes she reaches the stairs hearing loud arguing, her friends were indiscreetly discussing their next course of action. 

“Would you shut the fuck up, there could be a night guard out there”- said the rocker whipping away the tears.

The rockers took it as a cue to actually shut their mouths up, Ember reminded everyone about their current goal, dead man or not they still needed the money. She waves the watch in front of everyone but rather than simply leaving Mary tells they should search for more goods.

“Come on the guy is dead and no one is coming, let’s skin the guy clean”- said Mary as she ran towards the kitchen.

The three rockers saw her putting cutlery and pots inside her bag making Thomas sigh disappointedly, he and Skulker headed back into the living room searching for things they could steal. Ember’s stomach growls forcing her to check the fridge. 

A shopping list was taped to the fridge door, the girl hated her bad luck out of all the days they could have had done this, they chose the one day in which the house owner died and was supposed to do the grocery shopping. 

Her mouth water up as she saw a large tasty steak in the back hidden by some cabbages and a wine bottle, it seems the man was ready to have a fancy dinner but death took him a day before he could gorge himself, slyly she made sure no could see the meat. 

With the few options left, she took the little ham left inside and made a humble sandwich for herself and for Mary, both girls felt it had been ages since they had real meat in their mouths, from the kitchen Ember could see the boys struggling to lift the television.

They were all breaking the rules they came up with earlier, no televisions or any other heavy stuff, in and out without stopping for anything and yet there they were taking a tv while the girls ate their fill, but with the man dead there was no need for discretion anymore.

“Hey Ember, found a hidden door behind the closet”- said Skulker perhaps too excited for his own good.

All four rally up at the closet, it was almost a comedic sight as all were munching on crackers. The door led them down to the basement though perhaps not a secret door it was sure enough well hidden, neither of the boys could hide their excitement.

Some old computers scatter around the basement along several file cabinets and desks, most intriguing was extremely thick cables on the floor heading to the corner. Slowly the rockers follow the cables to a strange pod incrusted unto the concrete wall.

“Holy shit, is that a guy in there?” -asked Mary as she comes closer.

True to her assumption a man was dormant within the pod, skin white as a sheet of paper though was tall and built like a brick wall, Skulker and Thomas both loudly clear their throat as they noticed the girls had their eyes glued on the man’s crotch.

With blushing faces, they all started to search for more valuables, but the cabinets only had reports written in a language they couldn’t understand. Ember was hopeful of finding some electronics they could sell at the pawnshop.

“I thought these houses were all-new”- said Mary as she held a property certificate as old the dead man upstairs.

“Not all, far as I know the government is expanding the city”- replied Thomas.

“More important, what the fuck was this guy doing here?”- Skulker yet added another question as he looks to the man in the pod.

None of the teens could come up with an answer, therefore, continue searching for goods to sell rather than asking questions they couldn’t answer, though the computers were in working conditions they were all too old to be sold.

Ember came across a fairly new chemistry lab set on the opposite corner to the pod, the idea of perhaps selling this to some drug dealers dance around her head, Skulker told her the dealers had shitty equipment but would pay top dollar for something like these.

“Hey check this out” Said Thomas making Skulker turn around. In his hands, a large bottle of booze labeled Amity’s Rattlesnake.

(XXXXX)

Ember took the bottle in her hands as she saw a printed rattlesnake wraps the bottle as strange words handwritten just under the animal caught her eye, the girl smiles as she invites her friends to crack the bottle open as they had much to celebrate. 

With the watch in their possession and over eight hundred in cash they scramble together from the wallet and around the house, it wasn’t the jackpot they were expecting but once they sold the electro domestics, they could make a killing.

The rockers gather at the living room more than excited about the earnings, it was by far more than what they had ever made together in a whole week, nothing could ruin this day, Ember insisted on having a drink despite them all being minors with the exception of Skulker. 

“What’s that?”- asked Ember as she noticed a notebook showing out of Thomas's pocket.

“It’s just some old diary the old man had. He was going crazy, it's full of gibberish”- replied the boy as he handed over to Ember.

While the girl looks over the book Thomas told her he was going to give it Wendy so she can help write more songs, Ember giggles at the idea as she looks over to the last entry written inside, her smile grows long.

“Mary be a sweetheart and bring some cups”-asked the lead singer Ember.

Like many times before she corrected her friends by reminding her to call her by her rocker nickname as she heads over for the glasses, Thomas notices Ember wasn’t just flipping the pages but actually reading them.

Before he could ask her about it, his sister arrived with the glasses and began to pour the drink, Ember and friends pick up their drinks and give a big “Bottoms up” as they swallow the liquid in a single gulp.

“I think I saw some more crackers in the kitchen I’ll go fetch them”- said Ember.

As she returns with the snacks, she also notices the band was serving themselves another round, with a cheer they empty their glasses in one single gulp, Thomas was the first to say how much it burned his throat.

“Don’t be such a wuss”- said Skulker as she pours himself another glass of Amity Rattlesnake. 

“No seriously this is kicking my ass.”- replied the boy.

Ember sat down as she noticed the dreadful expression on Snake’s face, the girl wanted to hurl but Ember serves yet another drink telling her it would help her calm down, the girl didn’t want anymore but didn’t want to be seen as a wuss like her big brother. 

Even Skulker seems to be at his limit, Mary jokingly told them the drink wouldn’t let her write awesome songs, but Ember crash on the couch stomping her black worker boots over the coffee table, making everyone look at her.

“Awesome songs, they're all shit”- said the girl.

“Ember you love those songs, you said they were great”- whimpered Mary.

“Oh, please I’m not gonna waste my songs with a bunch of losers like you”- replied the girl.

“Whoa you just crossed a few lines there”- said Skulker.

The older rocker couldn’t get up from the couch as a horrible pain embrace his belly, it was as if he had been kicked by a soccer player. Mary on the verge of tears told Ember how she was nothing without them but the girl laughed.

Ember recalls the many times she was out of tempo and how Thomas forgot one too many times his cue on the keyboard making the song take the wrong turn earning them more than one giggle and smirk. 

“That’s because of my shitty keyboard”- retorted the boy.

It was the first time any of them saw such an arrogant feature on her face as she told them how bad they were, complete and utter losers whose performance wasn’t good enough for a school play. Even if they could say it was due to his bad instruments, she insisted it was because of them. 

The pain in their stomachs was growing ever more but even so, Skulker got up telling her she was just a shitty singer no better than any of them, Ember growl as she pushed her boyfriend to the ground demanding he apologized. 

“I’m a great singer, you’re a fucking nobody. Even before you trick me into follow you out to bumville you were living in that damn van, if it weren’t for you damn losers, I’d be fucking famous by now”- yelled out the girl.

Skulker couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he knew just how hard it was for his teenage girlfriend to live in such conditions, there was no way he for him to correct her, he couldn’t make good on any of the many promises he made to her, the man had promised her to be a famous rocker in just a few years.

To live in a nice apartment in the city, eventually touring the country as great rockers, but they still lived inside a van eating scraps and leftovers. The girl told them just how bad they were, never keeping the rhythm, often acting as if they barely knew how to use their instruments.

“Well fuck you! Let’s see how you do without me or Snake, or our money because I broke in and that watch is mine”- threaten Thomas as he waves the bag with all the stolen goods.

A sudden cramp came over his stomach forcing him to bend over, the boy often had diarrhea but this felt different, it was painful, so much it was as if his stomach was melting. Ember put her foot over his should and push him down.

“I don’t need any of you”- said the girl as she shows a large key she found in the basement’s lab. - “риск смерти не пей. That means Risk of death, do not drink”- said the girl as she yanks the bag away from Thomas.

Skulker pulls himself up to the couch while asking if she wanted to kill them. The girl looks at him and says she was only planning on ripping them off after escaping the house, waited until they were well asleep and ran off the cash.

“I love you Ember. Why? After all, we’ve been through”- implored Skulker.

“Love? All you love is my pussy, thank god you didn’t knock me up”- replied Ember.

Skulker started to cough blood as he curls up on the couch, the rocker was more than angry with the man so much she personally shoves the bottle of Amity Rattlesnake down his throat, he could feel the burning sensation run down to his stomach.

Crying like a toddler Mary ask why them if she hated Skulker so much, why killed them as well if she had a couple’s problem with her boyfriend, there was no point in dragging her and her brother in this mess.

“I got myself into the thinking, who’s fault is it? Not mine; it’s yours, Thomas and Skulker’s, it’s you three idiots who are to blame, I was just the sweet and naïve girl who was stupid enough to fall for the bad boy”- said ember as she pours the remaining of Rattlesnake over Skulker crotch. 

The girl rants about how Skulker convinced her to follow her dreams and became a huge rock star, Snake and Skull were there as her band, together they would reach the stars and beyond, she loathed herself for being so stupid to believe such lies.

“After a whole year of this shit, what do I have to show for it? Nothing. I sleep in a fucking van not even a trailer, last week I was so fucking hungry I ate a piece of chicken out of the dumpster, do you know how fucking humiliating that was?!”- recriminated rocker. 

They all had it rough but Ember felt it the most as she was from a loving united family, though her family wasn’t rich they never suffer due to money, her father was a bank manager and often brought a nice fat check.

But one-night Ember met a rocker name Skulker who woo her of her feet, his confident demeanor and “bad” boy attitude was the deal closer, the foolish girl was heels over head in love with him, so much it didn’t take much to convince her to sing on stage with him.

Obviously, her parents disapprove of their relationship, but with the help of Thomas and Mary, they convince Ember to run away with them and start a music career. Skulker promises her that in less than a year they would make it big and be living like kings.

“You fucking bitch, we were a team”- whimpered Thomas the skull as he tried to punch her.

The boy felt down to the ground as vapor started to emanate from his body, upon lifting his head Ember saw how throat was melting away. The rocker’s attention was drawn towards Mary was puking blood all over the floor.

“Maybe you guys are used to eat from a trash can but that’s not me”- said Ember.

Most of her former boyfriend was melted away by now as she helped him to an extra serving of Rattlesnake earlier, Mary was still alive but Ember could see her friend’s intestines pouring out, the girl wouldn’t’ last.

Ignoring Mary’s whimpering she head over to Skulker, the man was long dead. Her love for the man was long gone, she wanted to leave him but without money she couldn’t afford the trip back home, to make things worse she didn’t know what bus to take home.

She was too far away to simply run around until finding the right one, her love for Skulker disappear half a year ago after he strikes at her for complaining about wasting food money on beer, Skulker did apologize profusely afterward. But she knew it wouldn’t be the only time. 

“Я расстаюсь с тобой, in case you’re wondering that means I’m breaking up with you”- said Ember.

Despite seeing her friend’s half-melted bodies, her body demanded food and so she headed over to the fridge for that large and tasty steak. Her mouth water up as she pours cooking oil over the frying pan, as the oil heats up she cuts some onions and potatoes.

The sizzling sound the oil made the moment the steak hit the frying pan made her stomach roar loudly but knew she had to wait until her steak was cook to perfection, Ember wasn’t going to ruin her first real dinner in a whole year.

Ember considers moving the bodies away but not really wanting to let her dinner go cold she set her plate on the kitchen table, even though it was poorly cooked each bite was bliss and beyond, it felt as if she never had tasted something delicious.

The girl savored every inch of the steak and delighted herself with potatoes though she would have preferred them smash, the girl reclines on the chair enjoying the afterglow of her meal, it was then she recalls the diary Thomas took from the old man’s room.

Everything was written in Russian hence why Thomas couldn’t read it though in his defense the man had very poor handwriting which made Ember have a hard time reading it, she from what she could make out it seems the man in pod was some sort of experiment.

The girl didn’t care for his sick and twisted human experiments, she came for money and goods to sell at the pawnshop, with a full tummy and the eight hundred dollars in the bag she knew she made it big.

(XXXXX)

All she needed now was to open the safe under the Nicolai’s bed and be off to stardom, but as she reaches the door a sudden cramp came over her stomach, she wonders if perhaps her heavy dinner made her stomach upset.

As she turns her head around, her eyes open wide in horror for in her food ecstasy she unknowingly mistook the Rattlesnake glass she left in the kitchen in place of her wine cup. Fear overwhelmed her heart as she knew she let the poison in her body too long.

Desperate she tried to vomit the Rattlesnake drink but could feel it burning inside of her, thinking quickly she searches through the Nicolai’s diary hopeful of finding a way to save herself from the same fate she let her friends suffer.

The chemical she drank was named Component G, though she didn’t understand the poorly written scientific lingo she understood it was meant to be used with the pod in the basement, not wanting to waste another second, she dashes down.

“Sorry comrade but I need it more than you”- said Ember as she opens the pod letting the man inside fall out. 

The girl peels her clothes off before entering, the pain in her stomach grew stronger but according to the diary she needed to set the device or it could just freeze her permanently. Everything was written in Russian thankfully a language she could read. 

“Come on… what button? Обеззараживать? That’s decontaminated …oh god I hope this works”- begged the girl as she climbs inside. The pod door close and cold air was rushed inside, soon her eyes felt heavy and all went dark. 

(XXXX)

Ember regains her consciousness no longer feeling the dreaded sensation in her stomach, after a few seconds the pod door open letting the cold air leave. She felt like a million bucks, to her left was a screen showing on the display the words “дезактивация завершена”

“Decontamination complete”- said the girl.

Filled with happiness she got dress and walk out the basement, the sun was out shining brightly through her friend’s corpse ruined her morning view. With the key in her hand, she headed upstairs stopping at Nicolai’s bedroom door.

She took a deep breath before opening the door, the stench was powerful and so the rocker headed straight to the safe without taking any air. She couldn’t help but smile as she hears the safe’s mechanisms open up.

The girl didn’t care for the documents inside, all the paper she cares for were the green wads of cash, more than she had ever seen in her entire life. No longer caring to hold her breath in she kept on stashing all the money she could fit in her bag.

“I love capitalism”- said Ember as she counted more than one hundred thousand.

With her friends dead and also Nicolai there wasn’t anyone who could point fingers towards her but couldn’t shake off the feeling something was missing. Skulker, Skull, and Snake were all dead in the living room, and the mad scientist's corpse was upstairs.

Ember quickly made her way out; she didn’t know how to drive the van and wouldn’t take the risk of getting caught by the police if they saw on the wheel. Some construction workers were starting to arrive therefore she hasten her steps. 

It was the first time in her whole life she didn’t know what to do or where to go, normally Skulker made the day’s schedule and got them their gigs but with him dead she had to do everything on her own.

“First things first, I need breakfast, a place to stay and get a demo set up”- planned the girl.

As she rode the train the girl couldn’t shake off the sensation of been watched by everyone, it was impossible for anyone to know the cash she was carrying in her bag, Ember took a quick sniff on her shoulder fearing the stench of death was over her.

Ember’s body odor wasn’t that of roses but she didn’t stink at all. Feeling the pressure of the eyes around her, she got off on downtown but the moment she got off more eyes were over her, thinking quickly she took refuge inside a diner yet again more eyes were instantly over her as she sat on the counter.

“What can I get you, missy?”- said a waitress.

The girl looks at the waitress for a couple of seconds before taking the menu and asking for a quarter breakfast, it felt so strange to be able to sit down on a diner to have a meal. It was a chance she could get used to but not the stares.

A boy no older than five came up to her, looking intently without uttering a single word though it made her feel awkward she did her best to ignore the boy until he asked why she looks like that, the girl gave a small giggle before saying she was a rock and roll star.

Ember felt like a kid as she pours honey over her hotcakes, just like the night before with her steak her mouth water up. By now the stares had died down but a few of the older clients could take the eyes off her. 

The clicking sounds of a camera were heard making her turn over to the cameraman, the boys’ father had taken her picture saying it was the first time he saw a rock and roll star in his life, the girl smile as she made the classic rock and roll hand gesture.

“Thanks. Where’s the bathroom?”- asked the girl after paying for her meal.

Her eyes glue themselves in the mirror, now she understood why everyone was looking at her so intently. Her black hair had turned into bright green and her skin pale like a dead person, she wonders if someone saw her leave Nicolai’s house.

“No matter”- said the girl 

“I’m gonna be a star.”

The End


	3. The Camping Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and company take a camping trip but not all are willing to let them enjoy their vacations.

Grim Tales of Amity Park

One-shot horror stories base on Danny Phantom

All characters belong to Butch Hartman

Lake Eerie.

Danny was sitting in his living room preparing all his camping supplies, Jazz was sitting on the couch to the left side of him ready her textbooks while reminding her brother to take sunscreen and insect repellent.

With a soft giggle, he told his older sister not to be such a worrywart, the boy insisted he had everything under control. Nevertheless, he was very excited by his camping trip to the woods near lake Eerie, a place known for its paranormal activity.

His best friend Sam Manson had been planning such a trip for nearly two months, she somehow managed to convinced her parents to let her go to a full weekend camping trip with her two besties, it was the adventure of a lifetime for the young goth.

Sam loves the outdoors and everything nature related as much as she loves the paranormal, ghost stories and anything macabre in nature was her forte. Her bedroom was filled to the brim with posters of the latest horror movies, her bookshelves had the most famous horror novels.

Danny verified he had sufficient clothes and all the essentials required for this long weekend, though Jazz wanted to join in the fun she had to get ready for her school exams and get her winter vacation school projects done, the redhead just couldn’t spend her time camping, even for a weekend. 

“Remember to behave and listen to everything mister Foley tells you”- said Maddie as she cleans Danny’s cheek with her thumb. 

The boy pulled his face away from his mother’s soft touch saying he wasn’t a little kid anymore, rather than taking offense Maddie giggle at his childish outburst, soon the honking of a car was heard followed by gently knocking on the front door.

Jack opens the door letting not only the cold air rush in but also two males, Tucker and his father Maurice Foley. The man of black skin was well in his forties, short hair with a mustache and a pair of glasses, due to the harsh winter cold both father and son were clad in heavy coats.

Once inside Maddie offer them some hot coffee to scare away the cold of winter, while mister Foley chatted with Jack and Maddie about the trip, his son did the same with Danny. Both teens were quite excited about their upcoming weekend.

“Come on boys, we still have to pick up Sam”- said Maurice. 

Maddie kissed her son on the forehead making him blush while Jack told him to show off the old Fenton steel, Danny wasn’t all that sure what his father meant by that yet he assumed his father meant for him not to act like a baby.

Jack help put the luggage inside Maurice car as he heard Jazz teasing her brother like she always does, the large man ignores his daughter as he lays his eyes over a long rectangular case, he didn’t need to be a genius to know what was inside considering the fame label on top.

“May I?”- asked Jack.

“Sure”- replied the dark skin man.

As expected with the case was a long bolt-action rifle, the weapon seems fairly new. Maurice assured Jack he knew how to use it and had in case a bear woke from hibernation much sooner than anticipated, though both men were more concern about wolfs coming to supper.

“Never killed any bigger than a bug. Don’t worry it’s probably gonna end up like dead weight.”- added the dark skin man.

From the passenger seat his son Tucker was calling out to him saying they were already running late and still had to go pick up Sam from her house, the man saw his wristwatch and realized it was already ten am.

It would be at least a two-hour ride to Lake Eerie plus an hour hike to the camping site, Maurice wanted to get the kids to the site and have the camp ready before sundown, which meant they had to leave now.

Danny waves his family good-bye though instantly frowning as he saw his sister blow him a kiss more out of mocking him than familiar love, the two siblings weren’t in bad terms one another but Jazz often made fun of his unsuccessful love life.

Her brother had a crush on the school sweetheart Paulina Sanchez, but constantly got turn down and outright rejected, Jazz took this a cue to make fun of her younger brother though all in good fun and never to make him feel bad about it.

Maurice’s car soon disappears around the corner and headed to Sam’s house, after a few minutes of car riding they came about a large and imposing mansion forcing the man to ask his son if they got the right address.

“Yeah dad, Sam lives here”- replied Tucker. 

The man parks in front of the main door and gently honks his horn, after a few minutes came out a man in a thick wool coat greeting him with an almost too serious tone of voice as he presented himself as Jeremy Manson, next to him was a fairly young woman whom Maurice assumed was Sam’s mother, Mrs. Pamela Mason.

Both Jeremy and Pamela look at Maurice with a cold glance perhaps even colder than the weather itself, the light brown hair man looks to his wife and back to Maurice making him feel very uncomfortable especially when the woman looks towards the car. 

“Are they any girls?”- asked the woman slightly worried.

“Don’t worry it’s just us boys”- replied Tucker’s father. 

Jeremy took a quick glance over to his wife once more before saying he wasn’t so sure about letting Sam go after all, but Maurice assures him he was more than capable of taking care of his son, both of the Manson looked at him with a puzzled stare.

“I hope this isn’t about skin color or something like that”- said Maurice with a deep sigh.

“Not at all, we’ve known the Fenton for quite a long time and despite their eccentricities, we trust their judgment. If they trust you, we trust you but…”- continued Jeremy. 

The dark skin man’s eyes moved beyond Jeremy straight to a figure behind cover in yet another thick coat, the man wonders why he wore something so heavy if it wasn’t all that cold, to begin with, surely it was below zero and snow had fallen but even so it didn’t require for such a coat and thick scarf.

“Come on little man, hop on”- said Maurice very enthusiastically.

Jeremy twisted his mouth as if trying to keep a giggle from coming out making Sam glared at him, Maurice noticed the scary glare directed not just to Jeremy but also to Tucker who was giggling like a fool, though Danny was the first and only to correct mister Foley’s mistake and explain that Sam was short for Samantha, a girl their age. 

Maurice blush red as a tomato as he had foolish assumed Sam was a boy and the girl didn’t take kindly towards the confusion, the girl never visits Tucker at their house. it was always at Danny’s house, the school or the burger joint. 

But now the man understood why her parents were suddenly so reluctant in letting their only daughter go alone to the woods with a man they hardly knew anything about and a couple of horny teens, he himself would be very unenthusiastic if he was in the same situation.

“Don’t worry about anything, I make sure Samantha has a great time and I’ll keep those two away from her tent”- said Maurice winking.

It didn’t come as much comfort for either of the Manson’s but knew just how much their daughter wanted to go on this camping trip, so halfheartedly Jeremy and Pamela gave their go ahead as they made sure Maurice swore to keep her safe.

“Sam honey make sure to pay attention to everything mister Foley says… and take this.”- said Jeremy.

The girl looks at her father with a certain shock and disgust as he handed her a long hunting knife, it came as a surprise her father handed her such a dangerous tool given the fact her mother was standing next to her. Despite her high and mighty attitude, there was a time she was a hippie.

Sam tossed her stuff inside the trunk along with all Danny and Tucker’s belongings, just like Danny she too waves her family goodbye. Maurice once more assured the Manson’s he was going to take very good care of Sam or die trying.

Tucker rode in the passenger seat next to his dad while Sam and Danny were in the backseat, the goth took the time to explain about Lake Eerie. According to her investigation, the place was a well know paranormal site where many strange occurrences had taken place throughout the years.

Among those incidences where unexplained disappearances, it was as if the local visitors simply vanished without a trace, Maurice didn’t understand the fascination kids had over such dreadful events, but at least they weren’t interested in drugs like his hippy neighbors. 

(XXXXX)

Halfway through the trip the teens finally stop chattering, Sam was busy reading about local legends around lake Eerie, Tucker and Danny were busy with their comic books, though Maurice thought such reading material was dangerous for their young and impressionable minds.

The man wondered if there was still a radio signal and so he turns on his fancy new radio, he was delighted to hear a voice coming on the other side, not many stations to choose from. Tucker nominated himself as radio manager.

“Listen up all you rock fans, one night only. Ember McLain lives at Amity Park stadium, 31 of December”- said a voice on the radio

“She’s ready to welcome 1968. Hard to believe just a year ago no one knew about her”- added another voice.

The radiomen talk for a while about her most recent song “Remember me” but the radio host was more incline to putting her first single, “Amity’s Rattlesnake” the song that made her famous, every single nightclub at Amity played it at full volume.

Danny and Tucker sang along with the radio as Sam just rolled her eyes, but she too was a big fan of the teenage rock diva, her bedroom had posters of Ember next to her Dracula and Frankenstein posters, her personal jukebox had the whole album.

“What surprised me more about Ember is her age, she just turns sixteen and she’s one of the richest music stars out there but I can tell momma and papa are taking a huge cut,” said the radio host before the signal was lost. 

It was surprising how fast the remaining hour passed by for they were already crossing the sign that welcomes them to Lake Eerie, as they enter into the camp’s parking lot the first thing, they noticed was two more cars already parked.

Lake Eerie was famous for its ever-perpetual fog around the lake and the tales of supernatural creatures that roam the forest, though such rumors didn’t actually help get any visitors to the woods, given the lack of campers and tourists, there was hardly the presence of any park ranger. Even so, he signs in at the ranger’s office, the man gave an odd and stern look, he didn’t appreciate the idea of a color man staying alone with two boys and a girl. 

Despite it being one of the largest lakes in the area, it was located almost in the middle of the forest, an experienced hiker could reach it in little more than half an hour but Maurice knew none of the teens had ever walked so far before.

Even the dark skin man wasn’t in his prime anymore, therefore, he could assume it would be at least an hour hike for them, especially with all their camping gear. Back in his youth, he would have more than love the idea of staying the whole week but his son and friends wouldn’t last that long.

“Come on boys, take the stuff and let’s get going. I wanna set camp before it gets dark”- instructed Maurice.

The man swung the rifle case around his back while putting a large cooler over his right shoulder, two bags in each hand. With a stern look, he let Tucker know he should carry Sam’s bags but the goth didn’t let any of the boys carry her stuff.

“Don’t fret guys, I can carry my own bags. Not a doll you know”- said Sam to a couple of relief looking boys.

Taking one too many breaks along the way made take much more than the initial hour Maurice had hope for. He wasn’t aware the teens were in such a bad physical shape though in all fairness he wasn’t doing any better.

A small blue sign with the words “Camp 13” let them know they had reached their camping spot, Danny and Tucker both fell to the ground as they didn’t think the walk would have been so demanding of them, but the boys were very grateful they had reached the place.

“Come Tucker, Danny. Time to set the tents.”- said Maurice to a couple of very tire teenagers. 

Both look at the dark skin man with expressions that clearly said “do it yourself” but gave in any way as both boys began unpacking the tents, Maurice looks over to Sam and told her she doesn’t have to do the any of the heavy liftings.

The goth glares back at him while saying she wasn’t a doll and wasn’t going to break for doing any physical labor, she proofs this by setting her own tent before any of the boys could finish setting even one, earning herself a pat on the back by Maurice. 

One proudful Sam and two very tire boy followed the older man down to the lake, the snow-covered trees made the scenery all the way to the lake though they would have to be complete idiots to swim in the half-frozen lake, nevertheless the sight by itself was well worth the trip.

The dimming sun over the horizon gave the lake an unnerving light green glow over its waters, Sam walks closer as she overviews the lake. She had been begging her parents to bring her over but neither of them was outdoor people.

Pamela would much prefer to stay over at her house warm and cozy rather than out in the cold forest, Jeremy was no better though he often spent more time over at his social clubs than with his family, Sam was the only Manson who loves nature and the outdoors.

While the teens played in the snow, Maurice relaxes on a fallen tree ready to read away from the remaining of the evening. Goosebumps crawl his spine out of nowhere, the man leaps from his improvise seat and turns around to the semi-dark woods.

For a moment he swore he was able to see a pair of glowing green eyes from within the snow cover bushes just a few meters away. An ominous feeling embraces his body as he backs away, fearing it was a bear he calls for the kids to head back to the camp.

Along the path back Maurice couldn’t shake off the dreadful sensation of being observed, though by now he came to realize it wasn’t possible for a bear to be lurking around given that they should all be by now in hibernation.

(XXXX)

The pale moon showed itself in between the winter clouds as the campers sat around a warm campfire, Sam watches how mister Foley put some sausages in a frying pan as Danny ready the buns and Tucker help out by making coffee.

“You wouldn’t happen to have anything that wasn’t brutally murder?”- asked the goth.

Maurice looks at the goth not knowing what to say, it was the second mistake he done around the girl during the day, first he confused her by thinking she was a boy and now he completely forgot that his son told him about Sam being a vegetarian.

“Sorry Sam, I forgot.”- Apologized the man.

“Don’t worry about it. I brought some fruit and energy bars”- replied Sam.

The boys all felt horrible for stuffing their faces with hotdogs while Sam ate only a couple of apples and some granola bars, but their discomfort dies away once she pulls out her personal dotation of peanut butter and jelly. 

Sam had foreseen this kind of blunder and made sure to bring enough food for herself as she was well aware Tucker and his father were basically carnivores, Danny was also on the same path as the Foley but still ate as much fruit as he could.

“Well guys, it’s been one heck of a day so let’s hit the sack.”- Maurice said.

The man saw the boys go inside their tent though he waited until Sam came back from brushing her teeth, Tucker could learn a few things from the gothic girl as he was already set for bed without brushing his teeth. 

“Thanks for everything mister Foley and don’t mind about forgetting that I’m a vegetarian.”- said Sam with a kind smile.

Maurice wondered just how much his life would have changed if he had a daughter, he loves Tucker and would never dare to even think about changing him but still the idea of having a daughter wander within his head.

(XXXX)

It was the first time Sam sleep inside a tent and so far away from home, though she adores the outdoors and everything nature related she never had the opportunity to go out camping before. Her parents wouldn’t dare travel to a place where there wasn’t a proper bathroom and room service.

She looks over to mister Foley’s shadow, the man was sitting in front of the bonfire drinking some coffee, Sam didn’t like the fact he thought she was a boy from the very start, the goth never did care for what others thought of her but she didn’t like the idea of being confused with a boy.

“Hell. If I pull my hair back, I actually look like a boy.”- whispered the goth. 

The girl turns over to her side as to better adjust herself under the sleeping bag but as she does, she notices a second large shadow form by the moonlight, far too big to be either Danny or Tucker, not even Maurice was big enough to cast such a shadow. 

Sam sat up worried that perhaps it was a bear, yet after blinking a few times the shadow was gone. Slowly she pulled herself out letting the cold winter air rush inside her tent, her heart shaked as she was well aware that the forest was no petting zoo.

Most animals here wouldn’t doubt in turning her into their dinner no matter her good intentions towards them, Sam couldn’t see anything on the ground due to the darkness, not even mister Foley had taken notice of her.

“Must have been my imagination”- whispered the girl as she returns to her tent.

Sam woke up to the smell of bacon been fried, despite not eating meat she couldn’t help but have her mouth water at the fragrance. As she steps out of the tent, the girl notices both Danny and Tucker were still sound asleep.

Only Maurice was outside getting breakfast ready, Sam exits her tent wearing her full winter gear on as she greeted Tucker’s dad, the man turns over to her and replies kindly while asking if she could wake the boys up.

There was a considerable new amount of snow covering the ground and the tents, according to Maurice it was snowing throughout the whole night. Sam could recall the previous day, then she could see the brown ground and some green on the trees but now it was all completely white.

“Yo flakes wake up!”- yelled out Sam making Maurice chuckle.

“My god this skirt is more of a man than my son”- whispered the dark skin man with a smirk.

Danny and Tucker had the expression of dead men as they came out from the tent, both teens complain about how hard the ground is despite the sleeping bags though Sam said she slept like a baby, letting Maurice wonder if the girl wasn’t born in the wrong body. 

The boys gorge themselves on eggs and bacon while Sam enjoyed a bowl of cereal and some coffee, she took notice at how Maurice was looking around as if searching for something though she questions herself if there was an actual bear around and the man kept it to himself as to not scare them.

After breakfast, Sam and the boys’ hike around the lake, spotting a few caves though naturally, Maurice didn’t let them inside as he was more than sure there were a bear asleep or worse yet wolves, at the least, the bear wouldn’t come out until spring.

“Hey! I found some wolves tracks here”- said Sam out of nowhere.

“You’re right but there much bigger than a wolf’s paw”- added Maurice.

Sam’s initial uncertainties were for nothing, for the day progress with no major incidents aside a few sore feet from the hiking, the goth sat on a large cold rock as she saw the sun hiding over the horizon. She couldn’t get enough of nature’s beauty.

“Gather up guys, its dinner time”- said Maurice.

The trio gathers up at the bonfire as the fragrance of fried meat replaces the sweet aroma of pines making the boy’s drool like dogs, Sam ready a tofu burger and a homemade salad, though she hadn’t eaten meat she claims it tastes much better.

“What’s that?”- asked mister Foley as he saw Sam adding a red with black flower.

“I saw them at the City hall’s museum, they’re called Blood blossoms, the Indians use to season their food with this plant”- replied the girl as she took a large bite from her tofu burger.

She didn’t back down on saying how delicious it was compared to meat from a brutally murdered animal, the girl was a headache for her parents as she was often dragged out from the animal rights protest or even at the peace rallies against the war. 

“Anybody knows a good scary story”- said Sam as she waves her fingers in front of her face. Maurice took this a personal cue for him to step up and share some stories he knew about.

“I know a good one though I’m pretty sure you’ve all heard about the old tale of Victor Wulf.”- added the man. The trio only looks at him with a blank expression on their faces for they didn’t have the slightest idea of what he was talking about.

“You know… the shapeshifter… Amity’s werewolf?”- added defeated the man.

The kids listen to every word mister Maurice spoke but out of the three teens, Sam listened with almost fanatical attention to the story. Amity’s werewolf, Victor Wulf, it was the classic tale of a young settler in the 1800s falling in love with a native girl.

No one in the colony approved of their relationship and when things got sour with the natives, Victor and his love ran away only for the woman to be capture by Victor’s old friends. Maurice explains how the woman was burned in the middle of town for witchcraft. 

“What did Victor do?”- asked Sam while her friends were falling asleep.

“Legend says he made a deal with some witch doctor and was granted the ability to change his body”- answered Maurice. 

Sam perhaps overly enjoyed the gruesome and bloody parts of the story, especially as Maurice told them how Victor tore apart the settlers like a savage beast, eating their flesh. Not one was spared from his vengeance.

The goth girl asked if the colony was nearby as she wanted to see it with her two eyes, but the man told her the settlement was raze down two hundred years ago and nothing was left, even so, she wanted to see the place where it once stood.

“Maybe tomorrow will look for it, but as far as I know it’s just a legend. Could be anywhere.”- said the man as he instructed the teens to go to sleep.

(XXXXX)

The night was so cold it woke Sam from her rest, the girl couldn’t see anything in the dark. Unlike her city life, the forest was so unbelievably dark she couldn’t even make out her own hand in front of her, even with the dimming bonfire in the middle of the camp.

The girl yawns out loud as she crawls out from her sleeping bag straight to her backpack in search of an extra coat, she was sure to have brought along, but as she opens the zipper a soft but firm growl call out to her attention.

Her heart almost stops and the cold sweat in brow freezes, she knew something was outside but, in such darkness, there was no way she could tell what was out there. A bear? A pack of Wolves? Victor? Sam literally stuck her hand unto her mouth as to avoid her teeth clattering from giving her away.

Mister Foley’s tent was closest but the noise was coming from that direction, the girl was brave but not stupid, she needed to alert her friends about the animal that just made its way into their camp before it was too late,

Despite the ongoing bonfire it was still too dark to make out anything beyond some shadows, slowly she crawls out of her tent straight to where the boys are sleeping, Sam turns around as she hears a branch break.

The light of the bonfire forms a humanoid shadow unnaturally large, she could swear it was taller than the bears she had seen at the zoo, as the creature turns around Sam could see the discernable canine snout so common on dogs or wolves.

“It’s real. Victor…” whispered the girl. 

Not wasting time, she makes her way inside Danny and Tucker’s tent, shaking both boys in hopes of waking them up. Danny only wiggles his hand trying to shoo her away, desperate she covers both their nose and mouths forcing them to get up.

The girl whispers to them about the werewolf outside but as expected neither of the boys believes her, saying it was probably a raccoon or something, though half asleep Tucker reminds her about his dad hanging the food on a tree as to avoid any predator coming over. 

“I swear there’s something out there, please guys we gotta wake up mister Foley”- implored Sam.

With a loud groan that made Sam’s hair stand up in fear of alerting the creature, Danny gets up and swaps on his winter boots. Armed with a flashlight he walks out from the tent despite Sam’s pleas of being careful. 

The light shines around the camp but nothing comes out from it, Sam and Tucker both join their much braver friend as he demonstrates there’s nothing to fear at all. No bear or wolves around, not even a pawprint on the snow.

Danny shines the light over to Sam’s tent and shows her the trail the girl made as she crawls her way to their tent, even after telling them about hearing the monster near mister Foley’s tent nothing shows on the snow near his tent. 

“Come on Sam, go to bed. You must had a nightmare or something.”- said Danny as he yawns loudly while stretching his arms. 

“Get some sleep Sam”- added Tucker before both boys got inside their tent.

The girl was sure to have heard and seen the creature but given the darkness around she must have imagined everything; it wasn’t snowing so the tracks couldn’t have been covered and something so big would have left more than just a few tracks.

(XXXXX)

Though the sun was shining over the clouds it was still cold, Sam didn’t expect it to be freezing cold. The moment she crawls out of the tent she notices Maurice trying to get the bonfire kindled again, the man wanted to get breakfast ready as soon as he could.

“Morning. Say mister Foley, you didn’t hear anything funky last night?”- asked Sam as she tossed a small dry log onto the fire. 

“Nah, slept like a baby”- replied the older dark skin man. The black-haired girl didn’t add any other comments after.

Even with her wool mittens on she could feel the cold of winter around her fingers, she was surprised by just how much camping consisted of cooking and keeping the bonfire alive, her eyes move over to the tent where mister Foley was in.

She was certain to have seen a tall creature but now she wasn’t sure if she actually saw it or if she half dreamt the whole thing, even though she loves the outdoors her parents never before let her go camping much less alone with two boys and an adult male.

Perhaps Pamela’s old inner hippie was kicking back in, Sam still didn’t believe her prune of a mother was a hippie during the first years of the movement though she was still very young, the girl couldn’t recall actually seeing her mother acting like a hippie.

“Excuse me Sam, but aren’t you?... well afraid of me or something. I mean I’m a big scary black guy”- said Maurice.

The girl looks at him with a smirk as she tells him she wasn’t like her simple and narrowed minded schoolmates and teacher, skin color didn’t mean anything to her as she judges a person by their actions and not their skin color.

“Besides… big and scary…really?”- said the girl mockingly. 

Though before he could say anything the boys came out from their tents, Sam was quick in mocking their regrettable morning faces. Neither of the boys wanted to wash up due to the cold, both claiming their faces would freeze and fall off.

“Come on bozos, let’s get groovy”- said Sam as she dragged her boys to the lake. 

Both boys whine as the cold lake water touch their faces, even Sam shiver at the cold morning water but as she wipes away the water off her eyes, she noticed a big black wolf on the other side of the lake, the girl would have been more than happy to see such an animal.

But if it weren’t for the small fact it was standing on its hind legs with its left paw resting on the tree, things would have been more normal, it was clear as the day could allow it and Sam knew she wasn’t seeing random shadows anymore.

“Guys… there’s a werewolf over there”- whispered the girl.

Both came rushing over to Sam asking where she saw this mythical monster, the girl refuses to move her eyes from the creature out of fear of it disappearing. Danny lightly pushed her to the side making her lost her balance.

“Where!?”- said Danny as he helps Sam regain her balance.

The girl points over to where the tree line begins but as she feared she lost sight of the creature; neither Danny nor Tucker believe her no matter how hard Sam tried to point out where she saw the monster.

“Listen Sam, this whole nature thing is getting to you. Why don’t you snack on some of your plants.”- said Tucker. 

It was their last night at lake eerie and still wanted to explore a little more, Sam looks at her friends with an angry glare as she began to doubt in her own two eyes. Danny tosses his towel over his shoulder as he exclaims his need for coffee.

“I know what I saw.” -Said Sam as she took a bite from her Indian plant, now I get why they like this Blood blossoms so much. It’s so sweet, even raw.”- said Sam to no one as her friends were already heading to the camp. 

Sam wasn’t in much of a hurry to catch up with the boys, the girl much preferred to take her time and admire the beautiful snowy mountains she would climb on her next trip. The squeaky sounds of snow been stepped call out her attention.

“Hello?”- whispered Sam.

Far into the tree just behind the bushes, she could see the faint figure of a big black wolf, though unlike her werewolf this one was moving on all fours making her even more afraid as she knew it wasn’t a hallucination.

Not daring to startle the animal she back away slowly, her heartbeat loud. Sam noticed how the wolf kept his head at ground level, she knew the wolf was hunting her and would sprint towards her the moment she blinks. 

The black hair girl saw the large wolf moving towards her as it licks its long snout, slowly she moves her feet away wanting to scream for help, much to her horror the animal began following her, Sam was more than sure it could smell her fear.

“Easy there boy… I ain’t got no beef with you… I don’t even eat meat.”- implored the girl.

The big black wolf didn’t care for her personal taste in food, all the animal care for was chewing her up. The moment the wolf turns his steps into a dash so did Sam, the girl never ran so fast in her entire life.

The girl reached the camp in record time though the first thing she did was dodge into Maurice’s tent searching for his rifle while screaming about the wolf behind her, all her care for animal rights and love for nature kicked out the door the moment her life was in danger.

Maurice instantly took the rifle away from her while showing her there wasn’t any such wolf running after her or Danny, she couldn’t believe what was being told and shown to her, Sam heard the animal and saw it with her two eyes.

“Sam, you’re spaz out man”- said Tucker trying to calm her down.

“I know what I saw. There was a big fucking wolf”- retorted the girl.

Maurice played diplomacy with the girl and explain that perhaps the animal saw too many humans and thought it wasn’t worth the effort, though he knew there wasn’t any wolf chasing her but thought it was for the best to make her think the animal was real and left.

“What you kids need is some grub”- added Maurice.

(XXXXX)

Sam couldn’t stop shaking as she could still feel the warm breath of the wolf but according to mister Foley the animal gave up on the hunt, though her besties didn’t see such animal. She just couldn’t believe it was all a figment of her imagination.

From her bag, she took out the hunting knife her father handed her in case it was needed, at that moment she couldn’t help but think just how foolish her father really is but now she was more than grateful for his attention.

She knew the forest wasn’t a petting zoo hence why she didn’t make a fuzz over the rifle Maurice brought over, despite her history of an animal rights activist she wanted to keep the firearm at arm’s length.

“Kids we kinda got a problem”- said Maurice.

All their food was missing, Maurice had made sure to tie the cooler high up and far from the camp to avoid any animal wandering into the camp but now it was all missing, he couldn’t explain how it happened but kept to himself the fact the whole cooler was missing.

Nevertheless, he assured them it wasn’t too much of a problem if they didn’t mind him going out hunting. On the other hand, they were only going to stay for one more night, so if need be, they could leave now.

“I don’t mind mister Foley. Me and Tucker can fish something from the lake”- said Danny.

The man looks over to the young teenage girl and asks if she was ok with staying the night as her personal rations also disappeared, but the girl explains she wasn’t going to break down for skipping one sole meal.

In hindsight, the teens thought it felt more like a real camping trip now that they needed to fish and hunt for their meal, though Sam told them she saw some bushes with berries she could eat, it wasn’t as if she was about to turn over just because of one small incident.

“You one tuff chick”- said Maurice as he pulls out the rifle.

Sam didn’t enjoy the idea of seeing an animal get killed for the sake of feeding her friends and for a moment consider in telling them they should pack up and leave, but it was a weekend she spent too long planning out.

Weeks of begging to her parents and studying all kinds of camping practices, though most of them had left her head. The one thing she loathed the most was to be the depending whiny princess, Sam wasn’t going to let anyone carry her weight.

Maurice left the kids as he was absolutely sure to be able to bag something before lunchtime, the boys headed over to the lake more enthusiastic than they should be, Sam couldn’t help but gaze over to where she saw the wolf.

There weren’t any paw prints on the snow which made her feel uneasy, Sam was sure of what she saw. Perhaps her father was right and she wasn’t ready to be out camping alone, even under the supervision of an adult and the company of her dearest friends.

Sam only managed to get a handful of berries she was sure were edible, her friends on the other hand after several hours of “fishing” they couldn’t get anything at all, though the lack of fishing rods and the knowhow needed, made things unnecessarily hard. 

“Guys mister Foley’s taking too long, I’m gonna go check on him, see if you can fish something out”- said the girl as she opens her pouch, “here you go guys, last ones I got.”- 

The boys look over to the granola bars Sam kindly handed over to them, both Danny and Tucker doubted on taking the bars as they were Sam’s personal food given the fact that she’s a vegetarian, but their hungry stomachs forced them to take the bars.

“Your old man said he was going uphill; I’ll be back in an hour”- said Sam but as walks away she shows them a third bar in her hand letting them know she wasn’t going hungry just yet.

(XXXXX)

Maurice couldn’t understand why their food supply was gone; he was sure to have tied it up well. Strange enough the rope seems to have undone its self and let the cooler fall down, which could explain why all the food was missing.

But why would an animal take the whole cooler, it made no sense in his head. The missing cooler mystery would have to wait as he saw a young deer eating from a bush some hundred meters away, the brown fur was a big give away.

“How long has it been since I last saw through these sights… ten years… since the war.”- whispered the man.

The deer move just before he could pull the trigger forcing Maurice to freeze his finger, gently the man move towards the animal. He wanted to call it a day and take the kids back to Amity but he had been out for almost three hours.

Many hunters spent long hours before finding the trail of a good prey, of course, if he lost the trail then it was over. Time to go home, it was a waste to end the trip like this, been rob by a mere hungry animal, there was no point in exposing the kids. 

The tracks were clear, Maurice didn’t pride himself as a proper hunter but being on the trail of a deer was exhilarating. Soon his prey made a stop to take a sip from the water stream, the dark skin man felt bad for willing to shoot him while having a “cold one” but it was his best chance. 

Maurice put the deer in between his iron sights, hold his breath down and steady his aim. As he’s about to open fire, the man felt a cold breath next to him followed by a low growl, before he even had the chance to turn.

He was instantly pinned down to the ground as an excruciating pain engulfs the right side of his torso just under his ribcage, the growling turns into a loud howl as the creature torn from the lower side of his torso all over his back.

The animal put all its weight on Maurice’s gravity center making it impossible for him to stand up, with a long and deep slash on his back neither of his legs obeyed his commands. Maurice could feel the creature cutting his spine making movement impossible, not even allowing him to scream for help.

“My God, he’s eating me alive…”- thought Maurice as he heard the chewing sounds while gently being moved away.

The man tried to crawl away as fear overwhelmed him, Maurice couldn’t find his voice. Tears stream down as he felt the cold of death embrace him, the memory of leaving his only son alone broke his heart.

“Tucker…”

(XXXXX)

“Mister Foley!!!”- screamed Sam.

The girl was starting to get worried about the older man, he promised to return by lunchtime but her wristwatch told her it was already two o’clock, Sam didn’t dare venture too far away from the camp as she feared getting lost.

Though getting lost wasn’t her only concern, there was the high possibility a wolf or a bear might make an unannounced appearance. Sam called out for the man several times but discover how strangely quiet the forest was.

Sam expected to hear little critters buzzing around, birds flying above the trees yet it was so silent she could hear her own heartbeat. She didn’t have the slightest idea where Maurice could have gone over to hunt.

“Fuck, I’m hungry…”- whispered Sam as looks over to her phone.

Knowing she wouldn’t be able to find Maurice on her, the girl opted to go back to the campsite and see if the man had actually returned. Though the moment she reaches camp Tucker besiege her with questions about his dad.

As she feared mister Maurice hadn’t returned yet, she knew hunting took a long time but knowing mister Foley, he should have returned by now with or without prey, Sam explains about trekking uphill paying special attention to any and all sounds.

“Don’t flip your wig man, your old man ain’t no candyass. Wasn’t he a soldier?”- Said Danny trying to comfort his friend. 

“He was a desk jockey. He ain’t cut out for this shit”- replied Tucker. 

Sam got in the conversation saying that perhaps he found a deer and was chasing it down, with all the silence around she made the point of being able to hear the moment Maurice open fire, but Tucker was much more pessimistic.

The black hair girl notices nothing was been cook on the bonfire, the boys weren’t able to fish anything out of the lake though Tucker was more concern about his dad than eating, according to Danny the lake was “dead” and none of the trees had any sort of fruits.

Given her high social status, Sam wasn't used to skipping meals but having missed breakfast, lunch and now dinner with only a simple granola bar in her stomach all day was really starting to weigh on her.

“Sam why don’t you go to sleep, I’ll stay with Tucker until mister Foley comes back”- said Danny.

Normally Sam wouldn’t take orders from Danny but she’s too hungry to complain, hopefully, some shut-eye would distract her from the growling stomach. It took quite the amount of time to actually fall asleep, cold didn’t help out much.

(XXXXX)

Loud arguing woke Sam up forcing her out of her tent, she saw Tucker and Danny near trading blows one another. On one side was Tucker wanting to go out searching for his father while on the other Danny told him they should find a park ranger and contact the police.

“Wake up! The Man ain’t gonna do shit for my old man”- Yelled out Tucker.

The dark skin boy wasn’t naïve enough to believe the police were going to search the woods for his black skin father, he would be lucky if the cops didn’t simply ignore him like so many times he saw it on the streets.

Sam looks around seeing far more snow than the previous night, hence why Tucker was so worried about his dad, the man could have gotten turn around during the night especially considering the lack of attention the boys put on keeping the bonfire alive. 

“Shut the fuck up candyasses, this is the plan. Tucker, you go uphill where mister Foley was supposed to go, Danny, you go by the river case he followed a deer upriver”- ordered the girl.

As for Sam, she was to search deeper into the woods, the trio agrees to meet back at the camp around noon, if nothing came up then they would head back to the ranger station and asked for help, though Tucker was sure no one would give a damn.

“Fuck… I’m hungry”- whispered Sam as she lost sight of the camp.

She didn’t know any sort of tracking techniques and wasn’t even sure if Maurice went downhill, her boots felt heavier than normal but were sure it was due to the lack of food. Sam couldn’t believe how bad things end up during her first camping trip.

Her parents would never let her go out camping again after this, Sam knew she was being selfish for thinking about her future camping trips instead of Maurice’s wellbeing. For all, she knew the man could be injure or lost.

As Sam screams for Maurice the bushes begin to rattle, the girl wonders if perhaps mister Foley was behind but much to her horror it wasn’t Maurice but a big black hungry wolf who came out, her blood freezes as she sees animal growling at her.

“Not again. Easy boy.” -Whispered Sam in an effort of calming the animal down.

The black-haired girl wasn’t going to take the risk of finding out if she was imagining the animal due to hunger, therefore she bolted out as fast as her two legs could carry her. With little options, Sam ran downhill while the wolf bark at her.

“Danny!!! Tucker!!! Help me!!!”- screamed Sam as she ran away from the hungry beast.

The snow-covered a large rock trip Sam down the hill, she rolls down hitting branches and rocks. Tears stream down her eyes as she saw the big black wolf looking down at her, Sam was sure the beast was going to eat her.

Her vision darkens.

(XXXXX)  
The hungry black wolf comes closer to the unconscious girl and with its long-wet tongue he licks her face savoring her taste, his attention is drawn further uphill, his keen sense of smell picks up a familiar scent. The animal jerks its head around in utter fear as it starts whimpering and howling loudly, before long the big black wolf speeds away. 

Sam opened her eyes surprised to be alive and still in one piece, she couldn’t believe the wolf didn’t eat her right away. The girl darts her eyes all over the place though she wasn’t able to see the black wolf she did see a man sitting down on a rock.

His hair shoulder length and his eyes celestial blue, it reminded her of Danny’s eyes though she was sure his hair wasn’t exactly grey as it was more silver than grey. The sun was still up high therefore she assumed she hadn’t been unconscious for too long. 

“Did you scare the wolf?”- asked Sam.

“Something like that”- replied the silver hair man as points over to some red with black flowers.

Sam recognized them as Blood Blossoms, knowing they were safe to eat she help herself to a large portion. As she ungraciously ate the plants she asks for his name, Sam stops eating as the man say the word “Victor.”

Her stomach growl loudly, the plants weren’t enough to satisfy her hunger. The man opens an old pouch showing her a small bloodstain rabbit, she averts her eyes disgusted at the sight of a recently murdered rabbit.

“Aren’t you hungry?”- kindly asked the man.

“I’m a vegetarian… means I don’t eat meat”- replied the girl as she searches for more plants.

Leaves and tree bark wouldn’t do for a meal not if she wanted to last long in the forest, her wristwatch was broken but knew she was long overdue to return to the camp. Sam turned her attention back to Victor who place the bloody rabbit over the snow on a clean cloth.

“No one has to know”- added the man “And I’m sorry about your friend.”

Sam turn to where Victor was pointing at, her heart fell to the bottom of her stomach as she also lost strength in her knees. Maurice was lying on his belly with his back slashed and most of his lower body parts eaten, she turns over to Victor horrified and ready to run.

“Did you do this?”- asked the girl as she discovers her legs didn’t obey her.

“No… I haven’t had a human in years… too much fat for my liking”- replied the man.

Sam couldn’t understand why she believes in Victor, but if he wanted to kill her, he would have done so by now. She was only a day without food so she wasn’t malnourished to need fattening, the man seemed more interested in eating the rabbit than her. 

“…Are you a werewolf?”- asked the girl as her stomach growl and demanded her for the rabbit.

“Yes… but not the only one”- replied the man.

Before her very eyes, he transforms into a large silver coat beast with glowing green eyes. It wasn’t like any of the ones she saw, the werewolf was much older and bigger than the other she saw across the lake and woods. 

Victor pointed to his left and with the clearest human voice told her that was the way back to her camp before leaving her behind. The girl walks over to the little rabbit, the little animal had its red eyes wide open. 

“No one would know… you’re already dead so it would be rude not to…”- whispered the girl as she took the rabbit in her hands.

She loathed the flavor and felt like vomiting as her tongue tasted the blood and fat, the white hair stuck in between her teeth. With a hard yank, she split the rabbit wide open letting his guts fall out. Nevertheless, she looks up to the sky as she continues eating.

“No… keep it in.” said the girl as she covers her mouth with her hand preventing her vomit from coming out.

Panting hard she pulls herself up even belching loudly, her face was as red as her bloodstain lips. The girl knew the rumors were true, monsters lurk in the woods and needed to escape before she and her friends ended up like Maurice.

Apologizing to mister Foley she took his rifle and ammunition; Sam didn’t know how to use the weapon but had high hopes Tucker did. They would need it if the werewolves came after them.

(XXXXX)

The moon was already out and shining bright by the time she reached the camp, Victor wasn’t lying when he said where to find the camp, perhaps he was the one scaring off the other wolves and perhaps walked around the camp during their first night.

“Danny! Tucker! Where are you flakes!”- screamed the girl as she came close to the bonfire.

Sam enter her tent in search of a lamp as the bonfire wasn’t enough to light everything she needed to see. Once again, she called out for her friends, but no one answered her, the fear of the werewolves having already attacked them was great. 

She stupidly convinced her friends to spread out alone, they were easy targets for the monsters. If they could get the jump on Mister Foley then the kids didn’t have a chance against these beasts, Sam needed to find her boys and get the hell out of there.

The light the bonfire gave didn’t spread beyond the trees, only shadows and the never-ending darkness all around her, no matter how hard she screams for her friends' none answer back. She didn’t know where to go with such darkness.

Low deep growling was heard from behind her making her blood run as cold as the weather around her, shining her flashlight towards the darkness behind her tent she could spot a long black snout behind a tree, the frozen air it exhaled gave him away.

Almost as if it were taunting her, the monster shows itself. Fur as black as night and eyes red like blood, Sam begins to shake on her spot as the werewolf stands on both hind legs like a human while licking its snout. 

A cracking branch forces her hand to Danny and Tucker’s tent, she spots a pair of glowing red eyes just behind the tent, at its paw was Danny’s grey coat. Sam knew it was too late to save her friends for the monster had already taken their lives and she was next on the menu.

With a flashlight on one hand and the rifle in the other she fires at the closest werewolf, the bullet grazes him under its chest making the beast fall over the tent. The first werewolf dashes at Sam trying to jump over her.

Sam rolls to the side barely dodging the sharp claw letting the monster fall over the tent, the black hair girl aims straight to its head but the rifle doesn’t fire for she forgot to reload. Not wasting a single second, she turns around and runs towards the lake in an effort of escaping from the creatures.

Turning her head back for a moment she saw both wolves stand on their hind legs as they howl loud and long, her eyes widen as she sees them chasing after her only to lose sight of them in the dark, thinking quickly the girl turns the flashlight off. Only the moon was her source of light, to her right was a dark wolf-like silhouette watching her. 

“Please, I can see you little rabbit”- said the monster.

Without uttering a word, she reloads the rifle as she slowly aims at the werewolf, he laughs at her saying there was no way her human eyes could help her aim, Sam swiftly spins around pushing the rifle’s cannon on the second wolf having realized their bluff.

Sam pulls the trigger and the bullets fly into his belly ripping in and out, the beast gave out an ear-piercing scream. The girl quickly ran away as the creature screams just like a common dog. She could hear the second monster ordering him to follow up.

“Bitch got me good. It hurts a lot”- whimpered the werewolf.

Sam knew there was no point in hiding as they could sniff her out, worse yet was the fact they could even see her in the dark while she was blind without the flashlight. Sam rip a piece of her sleeve to tie the flashlight on the rifle.

Only the unharmed werewolf could give Sam a proper chase as the other was bleeding badly, Sam used her flashlight to temporally blind the monster and give her a brief head start. There was no point in running uphill as the beast could catch her in a second.

Therefore, she dashed down the hill stopping midway, she knew the monsters were somewhat arrogant and wouldn’t go around. It was as if they wanted to toy with her, she knew they took a sick pleasure in the chase.

With her rifle aiming down so the light wouldn’t give her away and taking cover behind a log Sam waits for the monster to show their ugly dog-like head, her patience is rewarded as her theory proves right.

“Watch out!”- said the werewolf.

The monster’s warning didn’t reach the second creature, the bullet passes straight into his nose and out the back of his head. The surviving werewolf howls as loud as it cans while restarting the chase, Sam reloads and fire again.

The monster flips to the side avoiding the bullets, Sam’s poor marksmanship let the monster avoid three more shots. The beast stood on its hind legs waiting for Sam to reload the rifle, she knew he was playing with her.

“You wanna play dog?”- taunted Sam as she passes the light over his eyes.

After repeating this a few times, the werewolf lost sight of her, with an annoyed growl he gets on all four and begins sniffing the ground. The moment he picks her scent Sam fires hitting him on the side, her hand jerk at the last moment sparing his head.

“Shit!!”- screamed Sam as she quickly reloads the second round.

“Come here!”- yelled the monster as he dashed towards her.

The gunshot echo throughout the lake and all was left in silence.

(XXXXX)

Pamela and her husband were sitting at the ranger’s office as the police conducted their investigation, a whole week had gone by and her daughter Sam and her friends Danny, and Tucker was also missing, Maurice ever came back as well.

“Talk to me”- said the chief of police to his lead detective.

“Very much as you can see chief. For what we know Maurice left the kids for whatever reason, then… whoa, differences and a fight started between them”- said the detective.

The police chief looks at the wrecked campsite, two tents smashed and the bonfire scatter around, it was already a stroke of good luck it didn’t start a forest fire, the lead detective led his boss to the lake as he shows him splatter blood. The park authorities were alerted days after Sam’s battle with the monsters by two hikers.

“The girl, Samantha Manson took the gun and shot once at the camp, we found the shell near the tent and the bullet in a nearby tree. It was here that she shot her first victim in the stomach.”- Said the detective.

The man saw a rock cover with dried blood though the police had to remove much of the snow, his detective told the boy didn’t die there but further up. The chief wanted to know why the boy continued chasing after Sam if he was injured.

“Got me there, she whacked him here. Tucker Foley, age fourteen, got shot in the stomach and in the head.”- added the police detective.

A partially decompose body laid on the ground with a hole in his face, the bullet blew half his head off. According to the coroner his death was so fast he didn’t even know what hit him, the chief couldn’t understand what could drive a fourteen-year-old child to chase someone even with a bullet in the belly.

“We got a little wild west here, five shots in total, three missed and two hit home.”- said the detective.

“Who’s the victim?”- asked the police chief.

“Daniel Fenton, age fourteen, got shot in the left lung and a second bullet next to the heart. The coroner said it took him a while to die, haven’t been able to contact with either of their parents.”- concluded the detective. 

The police chief walks a few more steps forward unable to process the train of thought the boys had at the moment of the gunfight, nor why they even started fighting in the first place, the old man asked about the last two victims.

“Maurice Foley age forty-two, maul to death by an unknown animal.”- said the detective as he explains how the dark skin man was found a few miles away from the camp.

Their animal expert came to the conclusion the man was attacked and eaten by a canine, though the bite marks were too big to be of any dog or even wolf in the area, therefore couldn’t assure what kind of animal did it. 

The man turns his attention to the last victim, “Samantha Manson, age fourteen, she was impaled in the heart by a tree branch, don’t know if she slipped or was push down.”- the detective said as he closes his ledger. 

The petite girl was sitting against a tree with a large thick tree branch protruding from her chest just where her heart is located, her death was near-instantaneous, the rifle was still tight in her hand. 

“One last question…why are those dead boys naked?”- asked the police chief.

“I don’t know”- replied the detective.

The end


End file.
